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Type in a ZIP code in this new atlas, and see how place shapes health
For years, Dr. Amy Kind has been keenly aware that the neighborhoods in which her patients live often hinder their recovery. She described, for example, how worries over neighborhood safety deter home health care staff from visiting some of her low-income patients to check on their recovery. In one case, that lack of follow-up care…
Read MoreAccess to credit and savings plays a key role in promoting health
When Jennifer Bui, a resident of the low-income San Diego neighborhood of City Heights, turned 18, she started concentrating on her financial future. “I was really interested in building my credit and building my financial power, in a way,” said Bui, now 19 and studying engineering and physics at Brown University in Rhode Island. After…
Read MoreChildhood hunger linked to violent behavior later in life
New research from the University of Texas shows that children who often go hungry have a greater risk of developing impulse control problems and engaging in violence. Those who experienced frequent hunger as kids were more than twice as likely to exhibit impulsivity and injure others intentionally as adolescents and adults, according to the study,…
Read MoreStudy finds health drawbacks in blatantly biased communities
A new UC Berkeley study reports this about the health consequences of explicit racism: Living in unabashedly racist communities can shorten the lives of both blacks and whites, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley. Researchers compared the racial biases of nearly 1.4 million people nationwide to death rates in more than…
Read MoreACA in Kentucky and Arkansas expands preventive and medical services
Two years after Medicaid coverage was expanded under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in their states, the uninsured rate among low-income residents in Arkansas dropped from 42% in 2013 to 14% in 2015, and in Kentucky it dropped from 40% to 9% during the same time frame. (In comparison, in Texas, which didn’t opt to…
Read MoreHousing Demand Threatens Local Food Supply in Hudson Valley
This New York Times article describes a familiar dilemma for farming regions near booming urban areas. Marin County – immediately north of San Francisco – dealt with this threat in part by forming the Marin Agricultural Land Trust. The Trust helped keep two-thirds of the county open space and in agriculture such as ranching, dairy,…
Read MoreMexico tax drives down soda purchases, as hoped
So far, only Mexico, France, the City of Berkeley and the Navajo Nation have succeeded in passing a “sin tax” on soda or junk food, despite many attempts among various governments over the years. So there has been virtually no way to know if these taxes would actually to cut soda consumption – which nutritionists…
Read MoreStudy finds access to green space brings major health benefits to poor
If you’re dealing with the stress of a low-income lifestyle – not able pay all the bills, worried about job security, etc. – having access to green spaces will significantly boost your sense of well being, compared to low-income people without this access, a new study found. The researchers compared reports of well-being among wealthy…
Read MoreLife Expectancy in Las Vegas
The Las Vegas Review-Journal ran a story on life expectancy by neighborhood in the glittering city. Like most every other community, it varies dramatically by neighborhood, with the gap as much as 16 years at either end of the nine-mile stretch between the downtown Strip and suburban Henderson. The study was funded in part with…
Read MoreLow-crime neighborhoods promote mental health in older Latinos
This is from a new study out of the University of Illinois. It’s long known that bad neighborhoods raise stress, but this one quantifies the effect, and in terms of depression. It’s not hard to understand that staying cooped up inside, and feeling fearful leaving your house, would bring on depression. Next step, as the…
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