Doctors have written an open letter to Boris Johnson demanding he make a policy U-turn and provide free meals in school holidays.
More than 1,000 have put their names to it after Tories sparked fury by voting against England footballer Marcus Rashford’s school dinners plan.
The North East’s Conservative MPs - with the exception of Richard Holden, who didn’t vote - all voted against Labour's motion to extend free school meals to children over school holidays until Easter 2021.
It is estimated almost 93,000 pupils in the North East received free school meals in the last academic year, with 16,500 eligible children in County Durham and 7,526 in Northumberland, where the region’s six Tory MPs sit.
Doctors said they felt “compelled to act” after seeing the heartbreaking impact of hunger on poorer children during the breaks.
One County Durham GP said their village food bank has seen a one-third increase in footfall, with patients saying children being at school eased financial pressures.
A North East doctor said the Government need to realise that an immediate provision for children to have their main meal provided for during the holidays is needed for good nutrition and health whilst their parents are struggling.
The letter, signed by 1,200 registered doctors, says that while politicians in Scotland, Wales and North Ireland are aiding school holiday meal supply, rejection of the proposal in England means “over a million children will go hungry”.
It came out on the day the British Medical Association also demanded that the Prime Minister reverse the “shameful” decision, the Mirror reports.
The letter says: “We see the effects of poverty on individual children ... the health impacts of not eating enough ... the children who can’t concentrate in school. We see the effects of malnutrition ... the impact on the mental health of these children and their families.”
Dr Julia Patterson, chief executive of EveryDoctor which organised the letter, said: “Roughly 30% of all children in the UK live in poverty.
“These children have names and faces. They are our patients. Covid-19 has pushed so many people to the brink – losing their jobs, cut off from family, struggling to make ends meet.
“The Government needs to step up and support communities, support every single child in Britain. UK doctors feel compelled to speak up because a lack of food has health consequences. Starvation kills. No child deserves to go hungry or starve.
“We will not stop our campaigning until the situation changes.”
Reports suggest more than 100 Tory MPs could vote against the policy in the Commons if Labour initiates another vote on the issue.
A County Durham GP said: “Our village food bank has seen a one-third increase in footfall. I’ve dealt with people telling me they lost their jobs and can’t afford food or rent.
"Patients told me they’re glad the children went back to school because it eased the financial pressures.”
Another GP working in the North East said: "With hard working families suffering with job loss, deaths in the family from the pandemic, and financial uncertainty for many months, it would be better if the Government realised that an immediate provision for children to have their main meal provided for during the holidays (as they do usually during term time) is needed for good nutrition and health whilst their parents are struggling.
"I feel the Government don’t understand or don’t want to imagine what it’s like to not have enough or suddenly lose security.
"Children are dependent and vunerable so no risks should be taken.
"Food and clothing banks are crying out for donations as people struggle and mental health problems within GP consultations are noticeably more often focused around money and job anxieties. Food bank use was up before the pandemic.
"Often the welfare system takes weeks to catch up with demand. I’ve heard of people relieved when schools went back so the children having a school meal would reduce the financial burden during times of job loss.
"I urge the Government to read the mood of the country and show more compassion.
"Local MPs, schools, charities social workers and food banks are the people in direct contact with the most needy and with the most knowledge of what’s needed."
The British Medical Association, the registered trade union for doctors, separately demanded a policy reversal by No10.
Its board chairwoman, Prof Dame Parveen Kumar, said: “The shameful refusal to extend the school meals scheme will directly impact the most disadvantaged children.
“With half-term starting today, it beggars belief that so many are having to try to persuade the Government to reverse this decision.
“A free school meal is the main daily nutrition source for many children and can have a huge impact on their health.
“The Covid pandemic has brought many families even further hardship.
“As well as providing a meal for children whose families can’t otherwise afford it, extending the scheme may be the only access some have to a nutritional, healthy meal as opposed to harmful, unhealthy foods during school holidays.
“The Government must immediately reverse its decision as it knows full well many children may go hungry and undernourished as a result.”
Thousands of free meals were yesterday provided to children by businesses, councils and community groups on the first day of half term.
