Yuxi Li

Summary: The importance of housing as a social determinant of the health of adults has been well documented. One area that received less research attention is the housing experiences of children and the impact of housing on their subsequent health. Childhood is a critical period of human development and lays the foundation for prosperity later in life. Adverse housing experiences during childhood generate health and socioeconomic inequalities. On the other hand, interventions to promote healthy housing can reduce disease burden, increase quality of life, and protect children from climate vulnerabilities. Towards developing effective interventions- or better, prevention strategies to reduce health-harming housing, the first step is to comprehensively unpack the relationship between housing and children’s health. Yuxi’s thesis addresses this gap. First, it provides a holistic picture of the evidence around housing and child health from existing literature. Second, it identifies who is most at risk to multiple housing disadvantages. Third, it establishes causal links between housing affordability and two leading causes of diseases burden- asthma and obesity- among Australian children.