Hong Kong  - Families in wealthy Hong Kong are skipping meals and going hungry because of the sharp rises in food prices, particularly for rice, according to a survey Monday.

Interviews with low-income Hong Kong mothers in the wake of sharp global food price rises found that 52.9 per cent said their children did not have enough to eat.

Just under 66 per cent said they or their family members had become physically weaker because of having to cut back on food and 78.3 per cent of mothers had only two meals a day to save money to feed their children better.

More than half bought food beyond its sell-by date to economize, while 80 per cent ate congee or noodles because of rice's sharply rising price.

The survey was conducted in early May among 138 households in the city of 6.9 million with an average monthly income of around 833 US dollars a month, some 40 per cent of the city average.

The Society for Community Organizations, a welfare umbrella group that conducted the survey, said the government should give out food vouchers and provide free lunches to students from poor families. (dpa)