People who have trouble paying their energy bills suffer more from chronic and acute pathologies than the rest of the population, reveals a study by the Abbé Pierre Foundation.
Living in poorly heated, poorly insulated and poorly ventilated apartments increases the risk of developing diseases. One could imagine it. Various studies carried out in particular within the World Health Organization have already demonstrated the link between excess winter mortality and the characteristics of housing.
And France, very affected by poor housing is not protected against these evils of precariousness. A study conducted by CREAI-ORS (Regional Center for Inadaptive Childhood and Adolescence – Health Observatory) of Languedoc-Roussillon, the Gefosat association, and funded by the Abbé Pierre Foundation compared two populations: a group of people exposed to fuel poverty, in other words, people faced with energy bills that are too high for their budget and may find themselves in a situation of unpaid bills and therefore power cuts, and a group of people not exposed to these living conditions.
Chronic bronchitis, closely linked to poor housing
First observation of this study presented yesterday: people exposed to fuel poverty more often than others have the impression that their health is degraded. But it’s not just an impression! More than half (52.9%) of these precarious sufferers from chronic bronchitis while they are only a quarter in the control group. They are also much more victims of colds and sore throat (80.7% against 61.1%), wheezing, hay fever or even headaches. These differences in health status also apply to children. “Children exposed to fuel poverty more often have colds or tonsillitis. They also have symptoms like wheezing, hay fever, rhinorrhea, headaches or eye irritation more often, ”the study authors write.
6 million energy insecure people
This degraded state of health is obviously explained by the poor quality of housing. In the homes of people exposed to energy poverty, “the ventilation of the bathrooms is less often possible, the windows are less often fitted with double glazing and traces of humidity or mold on the walls are more frequent. Another characteristic: there are more often unheated rooms in winter.
In France, no less than 6 million French people are said to be affected by fuel poverty.
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