Food insecurity and health status in deprived populations, 2014: a multicentre survey in seven of the social and medical healthcare centres (CASOs) run by Doctors of the World, France.
OBJECTIVE
To document eating practices and socio-economic profiles of patients seen in the social and medical healthcare centres (CASOs in its French acronym) run by Doctors of the World (Médecins du Monde, MdM) in France and evaluate their nutritional and health status.


METHODS
The survey was carried out between April and May 2014 in seven CASOs in France.


METHODS
All the patients attending MdM clinics were given a nutrition and health questionnaire. Their anthropometric measurements were taken on site.


RESULTS
77.7% of the households surveyed were food insecure due to constrained resources. On average, the patients interviewed declared spending €2.5 per person per day on food. A total of 46.3% of adults declared not having eaten for a whole day at least once in the month preceding the survey. One third of the patients declared having lost weight over the last two weeks. A chronic pathology was diagnosed in more than one in two patients; 19% were obese and 34% were overweight.


CONCLUSIONS
Constrained resources lead people living in very precarious conditions to eat without adequate nutrition, which could have consequences for their health, such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
French Programmes Directorate, Médecins du Monde France, 62 Rue Marcadet, 75018 Paris, France. Electronic address: sophie.laurence@medecinsdumonde.net.
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Laurence
French Programmes Directorate, Médecins du Monde France, 62 Rue Marcadet, 75018 Paris, France.
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Durand
French Programmes Directorate, Médecins du Monde France, 62 Rue Marcadet, 75018 Paris, France.
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Thomas
French Programmes Directorate, Médecins du Monde France, 62 Rue Marcadet, 75018 Paris, France.
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Chappuis
French Programmes Directorate, Médecins du Monde France, 62 Rue Marcadet, 75018 Paris, France.
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Corty
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006268:Health Facilities; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss; D055815:Young Adult
Food insecurity; Health; Migrant; Precarity; Social inequalities