Housing Subsidies and Pediatric Undernutrition
Alan Meyers, MD, MPH;
Deborah A. Frank, MD;
Nicole Roos, MBA;
Karen E. Peterson, RD, DSc;
Virginia A. Casey, PhD, MPH;
L. Adrienne Cupples, PhD;
Suzette M. Levenson, MEd, MPH
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995;149(10):1079-1084.
Abstract
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Objective
To test the hypothesis that receipt of housing subsidies by poor families is associated with improved nutritional status of their children.
Design
Cross-sectional study.
Setting
Pediatric emergency department of an urban municipal hospital.
Patients
Convenience sample of 203 children younger than 3 years and their families who were being seen during one of twenty-seven 24-hour periods.
Main Outcome Measures
Anthropometric indicators (z scores of weight for age, weight-for-height, and height-for-age), and the proportion of children with low growth indicator (weight-for-height below the 10th percentile or height-for-age below the fifth percentile, or both, of the reference population).
Results
Multivariate analysis controlling for demographics and program participation showed that receipt of housing assistance contributed significantly to z scores for weight-for-age (P=.03) and weight-for-height (P=.04). The risk of a child's having low growth indicators was 21.6% for children whose families were on the waiting list for housing assistance compared with 3.3% for those whose families received subsidies (adjusted odds ratio=8.2, 95% confidence interval=2.2 to 30.4, P=.002)
Conclusion
Receiving a housing subsidy is associated with increased growth in children from low-income families, an effect that is consistent with a protective effect of housing subsidies against childhood undernutrition.
(Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995;149:1079-1084)
Author Affiliations
From the Section of Community Pediatrics, Division of General Pediatrics (Dr Meyers) and the Division of Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics (Dr Frank), Boston (Mass) City Hospital; the Schools of Medicine (Drs Meyers and Frank) and Public Health (Dr Cupples and Ms Levenson), Boston University; the Harvard School of Public Health (Dr Peterson); and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (Dr Casey); Boston. Dr Casey is now with New England Research Institutes, Watertown, Mass.
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