A boy, aged 13, fainted during the class in a school of Heraklion, Crete, due to malnutrition. When the teachers called in the mother of the boy, she said that the whole family had not eaten for two days due to economic problems. “It’s natural for the child to faint without food”. According to Greek media, the mother has three more children. She is divorced and has no job.
Teachers claim that the phenomen of parents not being able to come up for the basic needs of their children is not rare and that quite some children suffer form malnutrition.
The Parents’ Association of the school rushed to help financially the mother of four.
Last October the news that elementary school children fainted in classes in Athens due to hunger shocked the Greeks. Hunger is an increasing phenomenon due to a galloping unemployment and sharp decrease of households’ incomes. But people are ashamed to seek help. It’s hard to fight hunger with dignity.
