Abstract
The aim of the study was to assess the nutritional status of adult homeless people using both anthropometric and biochemical measurements. The analysis comprised anthropometric indicators, i.e., body mass index and waist circumference, and the following biomarkers: red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, white blood cells, complete lymphocyte count, neutrophils-to-lymphocytes ratio, platelets-to-lymphocytes ratio, platelets-to-leukocytes ratio, C reactive protein level, serum iron concentration, serum albumin concentration, total serum protein, fasting lipids and blood glucose level. There were representative Polish homeless people enrolled (n = 580). The analysis of the conducted studies proved that there is a greater frequency of overweight and obesity than underweight in the target population. The major problem was abdominal obesity that was present statistically more frequently in women than men (p < 0.001). In the majority of cases, homeless people were found to have normal complete blood count parameters. In obese people, there were statistically significant both elevated and decreased hematocrit levels, a significant decrease in red blood cells, elevated serum glucose, triglycerides and total protein level (p < 0.05). The presence of abdominal obesity, elevated glucose concentration, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides, and decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in serum together with smoking increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Highlights
In the majority of individuals included in the analysis Body mass index (BMI)—based weight was within limits of the norm (51% and 52.9% in females and males, respectively), with a low prevalence of underweight (2% and 4% females and males, respectively)
Due to the fact that it is difficult to clearly determine the number of homeless people, the list of institutions in Poland obtained from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy was used during the draw
Obesity and overweight in the homeless constitute major problems, whereas underweight is of marginal significance
Summary
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/Polish homeless people are mainly men, in the predominant age group of 40 and 60, in some areas 51–60 years of age, living alone, mainly in agglomerations and large cities, mostly with basic vocational or lower education and usually professionally inactive and/or unemployed. Most of the Polish homeless people, about 60%, stay in various types of institutional facilities, and the remaining people stay in nonresidential places (stations, canals, chutes, plots and gazebos) or temporarily (not voluntarily and without registering) with friends or family. 4.0/).Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 2340. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052340 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
