Work

Exhaustion Of Food Budgets At Month’s End And Hospital Admissions For Hypoglycemia

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: One in seven US households cannot reliably afford food. Food budgets are more frequently exhausted at the end of a month than at other points in time. We postulated that this monthly pattern influenced health outcomes, such as risk for hypoglycemia among people with diabetes. Using administrative data on inpatient admissions in California for 2000-08, we found that admissions for hypoglycemia were more common in the low-income than the high-income population (270 versus 200 admissions per 100,000). Risk for hypoglycemia admission increased 27 percent in the last week of the month compared to the first week in the low-income population, but we observed no similar temporal variation in the high-income population. These findings suggest that exhaustion of food budgets might be an important driver of health inequities. Policy solutions to improve stable access to nutrition in low-income populations and raise awareness of the health risks of food insecurity might be warranted.

Source: Health Affairs

DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0096

Authors: Hilary K. Seligman, Ann F. Bolger, David Guzman, Andrea López, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo

Institutions: University of California, San Francisco, University of California San Francisco Medical Center

Language: English

Topic: Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, No poverty, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Center for Research Resources, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities