Dual Food and Energy Hardship and Associated Child Behavior Problems

Fernández, C. Rodríguez; Yomogida, Maiko; Aratani, Yumiko; Hernández, Diana

doi:10.1016/j.acap.2018.07.002

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Because the current energy model turns basic supplies into a commodity accessible only to those able to pay for them, EP usually occurs in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts. For this reason and as also shown in this study, EP generally coexists with other economic and material hardship, such as job, food or housing insecurity [8,10,21,22,48]. This interaction of difficulties increasingly results in deteriorating health and makes it more difficult to break out of the circle of precariousness.…”

Section: Interpretation Of Resultssupporting

confidence: 53%

The Association of Energy Poverty with Health and Wellbeing in Children in a Mediterranean City

Oliveras

Borrell

González-Pijuan

et al. 2021

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Children have been identified as being particularly vulnerable to energy poverty (EP), but little empirical research has addressed the effect of EP on children’s health and wellbeing, especially in southern Europe. In this work we aimed to provide an in-depth description of the distribution of EP by sociodemographic, socioeconomic and housing characteristics, as well as to analyse the association between EP and health and wellbeing in children in Barcelona. We performed a cross-sectional study using data from the Barcelona Health Survey for 2016 (n = 481 children under 15 years). We analysed the association between EP and health outcomes through prevalence differences and prevalence ratios (PR) and their 95% confidence interval (CI), using Poisson regression models with robust variance. In Barcelona, 10.6% of children were living in EP and large inequalities were found by sociodemographic, socioeconomic and housing characteristics. EP was strongly associated with poor health in children (PR (95% CI): 7.70 (2.86, 20.72)). Living in EP was also associated with poor mental health (PR (95% CI): 2.46 (1.21, 4.99)) and with more cases of asthma (PR (95% CI): 4.19 (1.47, 11.90)) and overweight (PR (95% CI): 1.50 (1.05, 2.15)) in children. It is urgent to develop specific measures to avoid such serious and unfair health effects on children.

show abstract

Section: Interpretation Of Resultssupporting

confidence: 53%

The Association of Energy Poverty with Health and Wellbeing in Children in a Mediterranean City

Oliveras

Borrell

González-Pijuan

et al. 2021

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Environmental stress and financial insecurity can lead to mental health issues and result in worse educational outcomes (53). The stress of energy hardship is associated with behavioral problems in children, whereby they are more likely to have low academic motivation, difficulty concentrating, and often act out (54,55). Children experiencing energy insecurity and food insecurity (discussed in detail in subsequent sections) are also more likely to experience intensified behavioral issues such as depression, rule-breaking behavior, and somatic complaints (54).…”

Section: Education: Literacy and Impacts On Academic Achievementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The stress of energy hardship is associated with behavioral problems in children, whereby they are more likely to have low academic motivation, difficulty concentrating, and often act out (54,55). Children experiencing energy insecurity and food insecurity (discussed in detail in subsequent sections) are also more likely to experience intensified behavioral issues such as depression, rule-breaking behavior, and somatic complaints (54). Asthmatic children in energy-insecure households with poor air quality miss more days of school due to illness than do non-asthmatic children (55,56).…”

Section: Education: Literacy and Impacts On Academic Achievementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Often, this dilemma leads to undernutrition, especially during the winter and summer months when there are higher energy use needs when it has been found that low-income adults and children have decreased caloric intake compared to lower-energy use months in the spring or fall (28,118). Other health impacts from food insecurity include acute hospital visits, poor diabetes control, developmental delays, fatigue, and behavioral issues in children (54,120,121). In response to high energy bills, people also opt out of medical and dental care, which can lead to worse health outcomes in the future (119).…”

Section: Bundled Hardships: Energy and Other Insecuritiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Energy, Poverty, and Health in Climate Change: A Comprehensive Review of an Emerging Literature

Jessel

Sawyer

Hernández

2019

Front. Public Health

Self Cite

193

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Household energy is increasingly vital for maintaining good health. Unaffordable and inadequate household energy presents adverse consequences that are amplified by poverty and a changing climate. To date, the connections between energy, socioeconomic disadvantage, and well-being are generally underappreciated, and household energy connection with climate change is under-researched. Building on the energy insecurity framework, this review explores literature related to household energy, poverty, and health in order to highlight the disproportionate burdens borne by vulnerable populations in adequately meeting household energy needs. This paper is based on a comprehensive review of books, peer-reviewed articles, and reports published between 1990 and 2019, identified via databases including JSTOR and PubMed. A total of 406 publications were selected as having potential for full review, 203 received full review, and 162 were included in this paper on the basis of set inclusion criteria. From the literature review, we created an original heuristic model that describes energy insecurity as either acute or chronic, and we further explore the mediators and pathways that link energy insecurity to health. In the discussion, we posit that the extant literature does not sufficiently consider that vulnerable communities often experience energy insecurity bundled with other hardships. We also discuss energy, poverty, and health through the lens of climate change, making the criticism that most research on household energy does not consider climate change. This evidence is important for enhancing research in this field and developing programmatic and policy interventions as they pertain to energy access, affordability, and health, with special emphasis on vulnerable populations, climate change, and social inequality.

show abstract

“…However, the effect of energy security on self-rated health was not statistically significant. Fernández et al [13] finds a relationship between hardship (measured as inability to pay a utility bill), food insecurity, and behavioral problems in children in 20 US cities. This relationship between food security and energy security has similarly been observed in Canada [10].…”

Section: Energy Security and Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the link between energy security and subjective well-being: a study of 22 nations

Mayer

Smith

2019

Energ Sustain Soc

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Energy has long been recognized as foundational for well-being, and recent work, has documented a link between access to energy services and health. In this analysis, we ask how worries about the energy systemin the form of access, cost, reliability, and sustainability-influence self-rated health. Results: Using data from 22 nations and some 30,000 respondents, we find that worries about energy security reduce self-rated health. Partial proportional odds models suggest that this effect varies across thresholds of selfrated health, wherein individuals highly worried about energy security are significantly less likely to report "Very Good" self-rated health. Conclusions: Worries about energy security reduce subjective well-being, suggesting another avenue through which energy relates to human health.

show abstract

Dual Food and Energy Hardship and Associated Child Behavior Problems

Cited by 21 publications

References 29 publications

The Association of Energy Poverty with Health and Wellbeing in Children in a Mediterranean City

The Association of Energy Poverty with Health and Wellbeing in Children in a Mediterranean City

Energy, Poverty, and Health in Climate Change: A Comprehensive Review of an Emerging Literature

Exploring the link between energy security and subjective well-being: a study of 22 nations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About