268 - Childhood Public Housing Assistance and Adult Obesity, Diabetes, and Hypertension

Poster Number: 268
Publication Number: 268.1585

Background: Poverty during childhood increases the risk of adult chronic health conditions. Government housing assistance, such as public housing and housing vouchers, annually assists ~5 million low-income families with poverty-related housing needs. Prior research has not investigated whether housing assistance during childhood mitigates the impact of childhood poverty on development of adult chronic health conditions such as adult obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension.

Objective: To determine if receipt of government housing assistance during childhood is associated with adult obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension.

Design/Methods: Data were from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), which longitudinally surveyed ~10,000 nationally representative families annually from 1968-1997 and biennially from 1999-2021. We included participants born in the years 1972-1992. Our main exposure was receipt of housing assistance during childhood (ages 0-17 years). Our main outcomes were respondent-reported obesity (calculated based on respondent-reported height and weight and defined as BMI ≥ 30.0), diabetes, and hypertension in adulthood (age ≥ 18). Covariates included the number of years during childhood eligible for housing assistance, race/ethnicity, sex, and adult age at the most recent survey wave. We used chi square tests to examine bivariate associations and logistic regressions to generate adjusted odds ratios (OR). Data were weighted using PSID longitudinal weights to approximate the national population.

Results: Among the 3,992 unweighted individuals meeting the inclusion criteria, 12.0% received housing assistance as a child, with a mean duration of housing assistance of 4.9 years (Table 1). In bivariate analyses, childhood housing assistance was associated with higher odds of obesity, but not hypertension or diabetes (Table 2). In multivariable analyses, children receiving housing assistance had 51% lower odds of adult diabetes (aOR 0.49 [95% CI: 0.27, 0.89]) (Figure). There was no association with obesity or hypertension. With every additional year of childhood housing assistance, odds of having diabetes decreased by 9% (aOR 0.91 [95% CI: 0.83, 0.99]).

Conclusion(s): Childhood housing assistance is associated with lower odds of adult diabetes. Additional analyses will be available by the PAS conference and will examine periods of childhood during which public housing was received, alternative characterizations of outcome variables, and comparisons of types of public housing (e.g., tenant-based vouchers versus project-based housing.)