The government is to spend about £400m to support poor children and their families in England, following a campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford.
A winter grant scheme, to be run by councils, will provide support with food and bills, and a holiday food and activities programme is to be expanded.
Rashford said it would improve the lives of nearly 1.7 million children.
The move represents a significant climbdown for the government, which had argued Universal Credit was enough.
From the package of support, a £170m ring-fenced fund will be distributed through councils until the end of March, with at least 80% earmarked for help with food and bills.
The holiday food and activities programme will be expanded with a £210m investment to cover Easter, summer and Christmas in 2021.
On top of that, there will be a £16m cash boost for the nation’s food banks.
However, Manchester United and England footballer Rashford said he remained concerned about the children who would miss out on help “because their family income isn’t quite enough”.
Support has already been announced for children in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
More than a million people signed a petition set up by the England player, calling for a package of measures including free food for poor children throughout the school holidays.
Mr Johnson phoned Rashford after he played in United’s 3-1 victory against Everton in the Premier League.
Speaking after the call, Rashford said: “Following the game today, I had a good conversation with the prime minister to better understand the proposed plan, and I very much welcome the steps that have been taken to combat child food poverty in the UK.”
While Rashford said he still had concerns about those who were not eligible for support, he added: “The intent the government have shown today is nothing but positive and they should be recognised for that.
“The steps made today will improve the lives of near 1.7 million children in the UK over the next 12 months, and that can only be celebrated.”
‘Greatest moment’
Rashford’s campaign for further action against food poverty began in June, after the government insisted it would not provide vouchers over the summer holidays for the 1.3 million children in England who were receiving free school meals in term time – despite having given such support during the first coronavirus lockdown in April.
It led to the government changing its policy to allow children to claim them during the summer holidays.
The footballer said: “I am fully committed to this cause, and I will fight for the rest of my life for it, because in my mind, no child should ever go hungry in the United Kingdom.
“I want to take this moment to reflect on what has occurred over the last couple of weeks. I am so proud of ‘us’ as a collective.”
Seeing the role that everyone had played in supporting the most vulnerable children had been “the greatest moment of my life”, he said.
