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Food insecurity among homeless and runaway adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Les B Whitbeck ,
Xiaojin Chen  and
Kurt D Johnson
Les B Whitbeck*
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Department of Sociology, 739 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324, USA
Xiaojin Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
Kurt D Johnson
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Department of Sociology, 739 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Email lwhitbeck2@unl.edu
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Abstract

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Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of food insecurity and factors related to it among homeless and runaway adolescents.

Design

Computer-assisted personal interviews were conducted with homeless and runaway adolescents directly on the streets and in shelters.

Setting

Interviews were conducted in eight Midwest cities: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Kansas City, Lincoln, Omaha, St. Louis and Wichita.

Subjects

The subjects were 428 (187 males; 241 females) homeless and runaway adolescents aged 16–19 years. Average age of the adolescents was 17.4 (standard deviation 1.05) years.

Results

About one-third of the adolescents had experienced food insecurity in the past 30 days. Factors associated with food insecurity were age of adolescent, a history of caretaker neglect and abuse, having ever spent time directly on the street, a small post-runaway social network, and engaging in deviant and non-deviant street food-acquisition strategies.

Conclusions

Based on these findings, our conservative estimate is that nationally more than 165 000 homeless and runaway adolescents experienced food insecurity in the past 30 days. These adolescents are largely hidden from public notice and they are usually missed in studies that address national hunger.

Keywords

Homeless adolescentsHungerFood insecurity
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , February 2006 , pp. 47 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2006

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