Heat or Eat: The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and Nutritional and Health Risks Among Children Less Than 3 Years of Age

Abstract

In response to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Energy Crisis of 1979, in fiscal year 1981, Congress implemented the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program to provide $1.85 billion for home heating, medically necessary home cooling, and weather-related supply shortage emergencies. This program became the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in 1982 and reached peak funding in the mid-1980s. Public funding for the LIHEAP has never been sufficient to serve more than a small minority of income-eligible households. Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding has not increased with recent rapidly rising energy costs, harsh winter conditions, or higher child poverty rates. Although a national performance goal for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is to increase the percentage of recipient households having 1 member 5 years of age, the association of income-eligible households' receipt of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program with indicators of well-being in young children has not been evaluated previously. The goal of the current study was to evaluate the association between a family's participation or non-participation in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the anthropometric status and health of their young children.