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With homelessness recognized as a growing problem in many developed countries, 'the homeless' have become an increasing focus of nutrition research and intervention. Problems of insufficient food access(1-6) and nutritional vulnerability(7-15) have been documented among homeless groups in many affluent Western nations. Ethnographic research findings suggest that homeless individuals live a 'hand to mouth' existence, locked in a daily struggle to meet their immediate needs for food and shelter(16-18). Their nutritional vulnerability has been linked to the inadequacy of meals served in soup kitchens or shelters(2,7,8,11,19), but there has been little examination of the role of other food acquisition strategies.
In 2003, we undertook a study of 261 homeless youths in Toronto to characterize the extent and nature of their nutritional vulnerability(14,20,21). Most youths interviewed existed outside the 'social safety net', obtaining money through the informal (and often illegal) economy and living in public spaces. Dietary assessments (results of which have been reported elsewhere) indicated that most had inadequate intakes of folate, vitamin A, vitamin C, Zn and Mg; additionally, more than half of the young women in the sample had inadequate intakes of Fe and vitamin B12(14). Here we examine the relationship between chronic food deprivation and food acquisition practices among this sample to gain a fuller understanding of their vulnerability.
Methods
Sampling and data collection
Data collection occurred between April and October 2003. Youths were eligible to participate if they were: (i) 16-24 years of age; (ii) not pregnant; and (iii) without stable, secure housing arrangements, defined as having spent ten or more of the past thirty nights sleeping in a temporary shelter, indoor or outdoor public space, or friend's place, because they had no place of their own. Six drop-in centres and twenty-eight outdoor locations where homeless youths 'hung out' (e.g. under bridges, in abandoned buildings, parks, garages) in downtown Toronto were identified as recruitment sites. Drop-in centre workers were contacted to obtain estimates of the number of eligible youths using their facilities, and field...