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

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  • Laura Oliveras

    (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
    Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), 08041 Barcelona, Spain
    Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Carme Borrell

    (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
    Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), 08041 Barcelona, Spain
    Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain)

  • Irene González-Pijuan

    (Centre for Regional Economic Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 2LX, UK)

  • Mercè Gotsens

    (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
    Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), 08041 Barcelona, Spain)

  • María José López

    (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
    Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), 08041 Barcelona, Spain
    Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain)

  • Laia Palència

    (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
    Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), 08041 Barcelona, Spain
    CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain)

  • Lucía Artazcoz

    (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
    Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), 08041 Barcelona, Spain
    Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
    CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain)

  • Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo

    (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
    Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau), 08041 Barcelona, Spain
    CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Oliveras & Carme Borrell & Irene González-Pijuan & Mercè Gotsens & María José López & Laia Palència & Lucía Artazcoz & Marc Marí-Dell’Olmo, 2021. "The Association of Energy Poverty with Health and Wellbeing in Children in a Mediterranean City," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-11, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5961-:d:567405
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ioanna Kyprianou & Despina Serghides & Harriet Thomson & Salvatore Carlucci, 2023. "Learning from the Past: The Impacts of Economic Crises on Energy Poverty Mortality and Rural Vulnerability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-13, July.
    2. Lucie Middlemiss, 2022. "Who is vulnerable to energy poverty in the Global North, and what is their experience?," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(6), November.
    3. Abre-Rehmat Qurat-ul-Ann & Sana Mahfooz, 2022. "Effect of Household Cooking Energy Poverty on Child Respiratory Health in Pakistan," iRASD Journal of Economics, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 4(2), pages 352-366, June.
    4. Shapira, Stav & Teschner, Naama, 2023. "No heat, no eat: (Dis)entangling insecurities and their implications for health and well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).

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