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May 18th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) — 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.
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