Housing subsidies and pediatric undernutrition.
OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that receipt of housing subsidies by poor families is associated with improved nutritional status of their children.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Pediatric emergency department of an urban municipal hospital.


METHODS
Convenience sample of 203 children younger than 3 years and their families who were being seen during one of twenty-seven 24-hour periods.


METHODS
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)


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Meyers
A
A
Division of General Pediatrics, Boston (Mass) City Hospital, USA.
Frank
D A
DA
Roos
N
N
Peterson
K E
KE
Casey
V A
VA
Cupples
L A
LA
Levenson
S M
SM
D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011203:Poverty; D011638:Public Housing; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires