Sixteen per cent of Estonian teens go to bed hungry: study

(TALLINN) - Estonia's deep 2009 recession saw the number of school-aged teenagers in the tiny EU Baltic state going to bed hungry shoot up to 16 percent in 2010, according to fresh data released Friday.

"The percentage of teens who said they go to bed hungry increased to 16 percent in 2010," researcher Katrin Aasvee from Estonia's National Institute for Health Development told AFP on Friday.

"The figure suggests greater poverty in Estonia," Aasvee said pointing to the 11 percent of Estonian teens going to bed hungry found in a similar study in 2006.

"For many teens the warm free lunch offered at school is the only meal they get," Aasvee added.

Over 4,000 teens in grades five to seven were polled across Estonia in the winter of 2010.

The former Soviet republic of 1.3 million which joined the European Union in 2004 was hit hard by the global recession, suffering a 14.1-percent contraction in output in 2009, one of the deepest slumps in the 27-nation EU.

Last year, however, it posted 3.1 percent growth and is expected to expand further by four percent this year.

In early 2010, joblessness hit 18.6 in Estonia. Second quarter data for this year saw it hovering at 13.3 percent.

After seven months of unemployment benefits at around half of a regular salary, state payments decrease to less than 70 euros (dollars) per month.

Estonia, which joined the eurozone January 1 of this year has long been praised for its strict fiscal policy.