The Child Poverty Action Group is set to launch a campaign calling for more than one million children whose parents are on benefit to receive free school meals.

Campaigner Martin Barnes: "It is crucial, to improve children's health"

At present these children do not qualify for free meals, despite campaigners' claims that they are living in impoverished families.

"There are 2.8 million schoolchildren living in poverty, yet only 1.8 million have entitlement to a free school meal. The government must act to ensure that the million children who are missing out are brought into the scheme as soon as possible," said Martin Barnes, director of the child poverty campaign group.

Mr Barnes is to call on the government to extend free school meals to all "school-aged children whose families will be in receipt of tax credits ... This would help with the eradication of the scourge of child poverty".

The campaign is also calling for greater efforts to ensure that all those children entitled to free school meals take advantage of them, as at present more than 20% of those who could claim free meals do not.