One-third of U.S. homeless population is obese: study
They may rely on cheap, fattening foods to fill up, researchers say.
(HealthDay) -- One-third of homeless people in the United States are obese, about the same rate as the general population, a new study finds.
It might seem that hunger and lack of food would put homeless people at risk for weighing too little, according to the researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
But, the high rate of obesity among homeless people may be due to their reliance on cheap foods that contain high levels of fat and sugar. Another possible explanation could be physiological -- chronic food shortages cause the body to adapt by storing fat reserves.
Other factors may include little physical activity, sleep deprivation and stress.
The researchers examined the body-mass index (a measure of body fat based on height and weight) in more than 5,600 homeless men and women in Boston and found that 32 percent were obese, just less than 6 percent were morbidly obese and just less than 2 percent were underweight.
The overall obesity rate among homeless people was almost as high as among the general population (about 34 percent). Homeless women, however, were much more likely to be obese than non-homeless women -- 43 percent vs. 35 percent.
The findings, which will appear in the Journal of Urban Health, suggest that obesity may have replaced underweight as the new malnutrition of the homeless, the researchers concluded.
"To our knowledge, this is the first study to rigorously evaluate whether obesity is a problem among the homeless in the U.S., as very little research has been done in this area," study co-author Paul Montgomery, a professor of psycho-social interventions at the University of Oxford, said in a journal news release.
"This study highlights the importance of the quality, as well as the quantity, of food that the homeless are consuming," Montgomery said. "Interventions aimed at reducing obesity in the homeless, such as improving nutritional standards in shelters or educational efforts at clinical sites, should be considered in light of these findings."
More information: National Health Care for the Homeless Council has more about homelessness and health.
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
-
Study finds Boston's elderly homeless sicker than others
Sep 13, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Homeless people without enough to eat are more likely to be hospitalized
Feb 03, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Cincy homeless shelter hit with TB
May 06, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Soccer could give homeless men a health kick, study says
Oct 02, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study: 85 percent of homeless people have chronic health conditions
Aug 24, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
Driving and hands-free talking lead to spike in errors, study shows
Talking on a hands-free device while behind the wheel can lead to a sharp increase in errors that could imperil other drivers on the road, according to new research from the University of Alberta.
Health
11 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
About one in four uninsured could be excluded from ACA
(HealthDay)—More than one in four of those eligible for new premium assistance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) do not have a checking account and will not be able to receive premiums from ...
Health
13 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Audiologists recommend smart phone apps to monitor noise levels
After studying noise in one French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans to determine whether or not noise levels exceeded municipal ordinances, Annette Hurley, PhD, Assistant Professor of Audiology at LSU Health Sciences Center ...
Health
15 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Young children who miss well-child visits are more likely to be hospitalized
Young children who missed more than half of recommended well-child visits had up to twice the risk of hospitalization compared to children who attended most of their visits, according to a study published today in the American Jo ...
Health
15 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Do doctors understand the individualisation of treatments?
The individualisation of drug treatments to support patients to self-manage their conditions is a concept that sits at the heart of policy, but a recent study in BMJ Open shows that there is no concrete defini ...
Health
17 hours ago |
3 / 5 (1) |
0
Engineered cytomegalovirus protects monkeys from HIV equivalent
(Medical Xpress)—A new study by researchers in the US has shown that an ancient virus can be modified to help in the fight against the simian immunodeficiency virus SIV, which is the equivalent in monkeys ...
Researchers identify first drug targets in childhood genetic tumor disorder
Two mutations central to the development of infantile myofibromatosis (IM)—a disorder characterized by multiple tumors involving the skin, bone, and soft tissue—may provide new therapeutic targets, according to researchers ...
Hormone levels may provide key to understanding psychological disorders in women
Women at a particular stage in their monthly menstrual cycle may be more vulnerable to some of the psychological side-effects associated with stressful experiences, according to a study from UCL.
Going live: Immune cell activation in multiple sclerosis
Biological processes are generally based on events at the molecular and cellular level. To understand what happens in the course of infections, diseases or normal bodily functions, scientists would need to ...
Help at hand for people with schizophrenia
How can healthy people who hear voices help schizophrenics? Finding the answer for this is at the centre of research conducted at the University of Bergen.
Alzheimer's disease, the soft target of the euthanasia debate
(Medical Xpress)—The way Alzheimer's disease is portrayed by advocacy groups and the media is having undue influence on the euthanasia debate, according to a Deakin University nursing ethics professor.
May 19, 2012
Rank: not rated yet
So what the study proves is that a third of the homeless at least have more than enough to eat, or that they're wasting their money eating more than they need.
May 20, 2012
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Simple facts are that "fattening" foods are cheaper. You eat starches you get fat, but they're cheap! Duh!
May 21, 2012
Rank: not rated yet
Agree with above though, the cheapest foods in the States probably aren't the healthiest.