BALTIMORE, March 15 (UPI) -- A study of Baltimore homeless finds being poor and homeless may increase the risk for obesity.
The study, published in Medscape General Medicine, looked at 60 children, ages 2 to 18, and 31 caregivers recruited from eight homeless shelters in Baltimore. Nearly half of the children were either overweight or at risk for becoming overweight. Compared with children nationally, Baltimore's homeless poor had a higher percentage of at-risk or overweight children.
"The study didn't monitor food intake or physical activity, but low-cost, calorie-dense meals and fear of spending time outdoors in high-crime areas are the likely culprits for the overweight children," lead author Dr. Kathleen Schwarz, a gastroenterologist at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, said in a statement.
"Not long ago, homeless people were undernourished. Our study shows the pendulum has swung the other way: Obesity might be the new form of malnutrition among the homeless."
