Nutrition Status of People Experiencing Homelessness Residing in Temporary Accommodation in London

IF 2.9 3区医学 Q3 NUTRITION & DIETETICS

Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics Pub Date : 2025-02-09 DOI:10.1111/jhn.70024

Hannah Style, Victoria Vickerstaff, Adrian Brown

{"title":"Nutrition Status of People Experiencing Homelessness Residing in Temporary Accommodation in London","authors":"Hannah Style, Victoria Vickerstaff, Adrian Brown","doi":"10.1111/jhn.70024","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Objectives</h3>\n \n <p>London has the highest proportion of people experiencing homelessness (PEH) living in temporary accommodation in the United Kingdom. PEH have poorer health outcomes, greater dietary inequalities, and die younger than the general population. Despite this, little is known about the nutrition status of PEH. This study aimed to examine the dietary health inequalities experienced by PEH in London, specifically assessing malnutrition among PEH living in temporary accommodation.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Methods</h3>\n \n <p>This was a prospective cross-sectional study in 18 hostels in London. Participants were recruited from the temporary accommodation in which they resided through a combination of purposive, snowballing and convenience sampling. Demographic information was gathered, including age, gender, ethnicity and hostel of residence. The primary outcome was malnutrition risk assessed by the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), other outcomes included body composition, dietary intake and quality, mental health and food insecurity. Ethical approval was obtained from the University College London Ethics Committee (16191/006).</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Findings</h3>\n \n <p>Two hundred participants were recruited between July and December 2023. The majority were male (84.5%), were of White ethnicity (61%), with a mean (SD) age of 45.7 years (11.6) and a BMI of 23.4 kg/m<sup>2</sup> (4.7). The median MUST score was 2 (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.0, 3.0), and 60% had a risk of malnutrition. The median mental health score was 6 (3.0, 10.0), with 55% having moderate to severe depression/anxiety. Median food security score was low (4.5 [(0.0, 8.0]), with 44% experiencing very low food security. The median dietary quality score was low (8.0 [6.0, 9.0]) with low intakes of energy, fibre, and micronutrients, including vitamin D, iron, folate, and calcium, with a higher intake of free sugars compared with UK dietary recommendations and intakes.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Conclusion</h3>\n \n <p>This is the first study to show that PEH living in temporary residences had a high risk of malnutrition and experienced dietary inequalities related to poor diet quality and severe food insecurity. There is an urgent need for improved food environments, dietary quality of donated foods and improved nutrition screening and nutrition support provision for PEH in temporary accommodation. Findings could help inform policymakers, health services and food aid charities to set nutrition standards for temporary accommodation to promote the dietary health of PEH.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":54803,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jhn.70024","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jhn.70024","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"NUTRITION & DIETETICS","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

London has the highest proportion of people experiencing homelessness (PEH) living in temporary accommodation in the United Kingdom. PEH have poorer health outcomes, greater dietary inequalities, and die younger than the general population. Despite this, little is known about the nutrition status of PEH. This study aimed to examine the dietary health inequalities experienced by PEH in London, specifically assessing malnutrition among PEH living in temporary accommodation.

Methods

This was a prospective cross-sectional study in 18 hostels in London. Participants were recruited from the temporary accommodation in which they resided through a combination of purposive, snowballing and convenience sampling. Demographic information was gathered, including age, gender, ethnicity and hostel of residence. The primary outcome was malnutrition risk assessed by the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), other outcomes included body composition, dietary intake and quality, mental health and food insecurity. Ethical approval was obtained from the University College London Ethics Committee (16191/006).

Findings

Two hundred participants were recruited between July and December 2023. The majority were male (84.5%), were of White ethnicity (61%), with a mean (SD) age of 45.7 years (11.6) and a BMI of 23.4 kg/m² (4.7). The median MUST score was 2 (interquartile range [IQR]: 0.0, 3.0), and 60% had a risk of malnutrition. The median mental health score was 6 (3.0, 10.0), with 55% having moderate to severe depression/anxiety. Median food security score was low (4.5 [(0.0, 8.0]), with 44% experiencing very low food security. The median dietary quality score was low (8.0 [6.0, 9.0]) with low intakes of energy, fibre, and micronutrients, including vitamin D, iron, folate, and calcium, with a higher intake of free sugars compared with UK dietary recommendations and intakes.

Conclusion

This is the first study to show that PEH living in temporary residences had a high risk of malnutrition and experienced dietary inequalities related to poor diet quality and severe food insecurity. There is an urgent need for improved food environments, dietary quality of donated foods and improved nutrition screening and nutrition support provision for PEH in temporary accommodation. Findings could help inform policymakers, health services and food aid charities to set nutrition standards for temporary accommodation to promote the dietary health of PEH.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

伦敦临时住所无家可归者的营养状况

伦敦是英国无家可归者（PEH）比例最高的城市。与一般人群相比，PEH患者的健康状况更差，饮食不平等更严重，死亡时间更短。尽管如此，人们对PEH的营养状况知之甚少。本研究旨在研究伦敦PEH所经历的饮食健康不平等，特别是评估居住在临时住所的PEH的营养不良情况。方法对伦敦18家青年旅舍进行前瞻性横断面研究。参与者是通过有目的、滚雪球式和方便抽样的结合从他们居住的临时住所中招募的。收集了人口统计资料，包括年龄、性别、种族和住所。主要结局是营养不良普遍筛查工具（MUST）评估的营养不良风险，其他结局包括身体成分、饮食摄入和质量、心理健康和粮食不安全。获得了伦敦大学学院伦理委员会（16191/006）的伦理批准。在2023年7月至12月期间招募了200名参与者。大多数为男性（84.5%），白人（61%），平均（SD）年龄为45.7岁（11.6），BMI为23.4 kg/m2（4.7）。MUST评分中位数为2（四分位数范围[IQR]: 0.0, 3.0）， 60%有营养不良的风险。心理健康得分中位数为6(3.0,10.0)，55%患有中度至重度抑郁/焦虑。粮食安全得分中位数较低(4.5[(0.0,8.0])，44%的粮食安全水平非常低。膳食质量评分中位数较低（8.0[6.0,9.0]），能量、纤维和微量营养素（包括维生素D、铁、叶酸和钙）的摄入量较低，游离糖的摄入量高于英国膳食建议和摄入量。结论该研究首次表明，居住在临时住所的PEH存在营养不良的高风险，并经历与饮食质量差和严重粮食不安全相关的饮食不平等。目前迫切需要改善食品环境、捐赠食品的膳食质量以及改善临时住所中PEH的营养筛查和营养支持。研究结果可以帮助决策者、卫生服务机构和食品援助慈善机构为临时住所制定营养标准，以促进PEH患者的饮食健康。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics 医学-营养学

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

15.20%

发文量

133

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics is an international peer-reviewed journal publishing papers in applied nutrition and dietetics. Papers are therefore welcomed on: - Clinical nutrition and the practice of therapeutic dietetics - Clinical and professional guidelines - Public health nutrition and nutritional epidemiology - Dietary surveys and dietary assessment methodology - Health promotion and intervention studies and their effectiveness - Obesity, weight control and body composition - Research on psychological determinants of healthy and unhealthy eating behaviour. Focus can for example be on attitudes, brain correlates of food reward processing, social influences, impulsivity, cognitive control, cognitive processes, dieting, psychological treatments. - Appetite, Food intake and nutritional status - Nutrigenomics and molecular nutrition - The journal does not publish animal research The journal is published in an online-only format. No printed issue of this title will be produced but authors will still be able to order offprints of their own articles.