One in six poor families with children are frequently hungry and their lives are made even bleaker by rising food prices, a study by Oxfam found. One 12-year-old girl said she had dinner only about three nights a week. The World Wealth Report 2011 said Hong Kong last year had more than 100,000 people with a net worth of US$1 million or more. But at the same time, Oxfam said, there were 144,400 families with children aged 15 or below that could be called poor, with a monthly income less than half the median household income of HK$9,500. Oxfam interviewed 600 such families from May to July, and found one in six were in a state of 'high food insecurity' because of a lack of money. 'The finding is a shocking and terrible one. We did not expect such a situation would emerge in Hong Kong, where the economy is developing so well,' Kalina Tsang Ka-wai, programme manager of the group, said. The research was released on the day that visiting Vice-Premier Li Keqiang announced a package of measures aimed at boosting Hong Kong's economy. Cheng Yim-ting, 12, who lives on the Fu Cheong Estate in Sham Shui Po, said that about four times week she had only breakfast and lunch. 'I want to have dinner. I feel happier if I can have it,' Yim-ting, the younger daughter in a family of four, said. Her family's only source of income is monthly welfare of HK$7,500. Her parents have chronic illnesses and are unable to work. Her mother said: 'I also want to feed my daughters more but sadly we can't. We simply cannot afford it.' The survey found another third of the households interviewed were in a state of 'low food insecurity', where they occasionally lacked enough food and were uncertain of getting enough. Oxfam feared these families would be hit even harder; food prices around the world reached record highs this year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Yip Hak-kwong, director of Hong Kong Policy 21, which was commissioned to conduct the survey, said soaring food prices were a much bigger burden for poor families. 'Food spending constitutes 40 per cent or even more of the cost for poor families, but to the well-off ones it only accounts for 20 per cent or less of their total spending,' he said. Yip said nearly 81 per cent of the poor families reported that they ate leftover food, while 18.5 per cent ate food close to or past its use-by date. The Social Welfare Department said Comprehensive Social Security Assistance provided a safety net for people who could not support themselves financially. It said the government would adjust standard rates under the scheme on an annual basis and, taking inflation into account, the payment was increased by 3.4 per cent from February 1. 5.6% Hong Kong's inflation rate. The government says that rising rents and food prices contributed heavily to an increase in the rate