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.

Study Design: 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.