Housing subsidies and pediatric undernutrition
A. Meyers, D. A. Frank, N. Roos, K. E. Peterson, V. A. Casey, L. A. Cupples and S. M. Levenson
Division of General Pediatrics, Boston (Mass) City Hospital, USA.
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.
