HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (16) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bhattacharya, J. Articles by Currie, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bhattacharya, J. Articles by Currie, J. Related Collections Family Health Nutrition/Food Socioeconomic Factors Other Environment

Jayanta Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, Thomas DeLeire, PhD, Steven Haider, PhD and Janet Currie, PhD

Jayanta Bhattacharya is with the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford Medical School, Stanford, Calif. Thomas DeLeire is with the Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, Ill. Steven Haider is with RAND, Santa Monica, Calif. Jane Currie is with the Department of Economics, University of California Los Angeles.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Jayanta Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, Stanford Medical School, Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, 117 Encina Commons, Stanford, CA 94305-6019 (e-mail: jay{at}stanford.edu).

Objectives. 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.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. J. Karp, M. Kersey, and D. B. Cutts Iron Deficiency, Obesity, and Food Insecurity Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, December 1, 2008; 162(12): 1194 - 1195. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Nord and L. S. Kantor Seasonal Variation in Food Insecurity Is Associated with Heating and Cooling Costs among Low-Income Elderly Americans J. Nutr., November 1, 2006; 136(11): 2939 - 2944. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. A. Frank, N. B. Neault, A. Skalicky, J. T. Cook, J. D. Wilson, S. Levenson, A. F. Meyers, T. Heeren, D. B. Cutts, P. H. Casey, et al. Heat or Eat: The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Nutritional and Health Risks Among Children Less Than 3 Years of Age Pediatrics, November 1, 2006; 118(5): e1293 - e1302. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. J. Kaiser and A. G. Pulsipher Concerns Over the Allocation Methods Employed in the US Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program Interfaces, July 1, 2006; 36(4): 344 - 358. [Abstract] [PDF]