Heat or eat? Cold-weather shocks and nutrition in poor American families.
OBJECTIVE
The authors sought to determine the effects of cold-weather periods on budgets and nutritional outcomes among poor American families.


METHODS
The Consumer Expenditure Survey was used to track expenditures on food and home fuels, and the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was used to track calorie consumption, dietary quality, vitamin deficiencies, and anemia.


RESULTS
Both poor and richer families increased fuel expenditures in response to unusually cold weather. Poor families reduced food expenditures by roughly the same amount as their increase in fuel expenditures, whereas richer families increased food expenditures.


CONCLUSIONS
Poor parents and their children spend less on and eat less food during cold-weather budgetary shocks. Existing social programs fail to buffer against these shocks.
Bhattacharya
Jayanta
J
Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford Medical School, Stanford, CA 94305-6019, USA. jay@stanford.edu
DeLeire
Thomas
T
Haider
Steven
S
Currie
Janet
J
D002017:Budgets; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003020:Clothing / Q000191:economics; D003080:Cold Temperature; D002149:Energy Intake; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D005502:Food / Q000191:economics*; D005648:Fuel Oils / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011203:Poverty / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States; D014887:Weather
D005648:Fuel Oils