causes of health inequality Flashcards
P - One lifestyle choice that can cause ill health in the population is poor diet
E - Evidence and research has found that those who do not eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and eat lots of sugar, fat and processed meat and fish, genrally have much poorer health
example?
e- this is shown in 2019, when only 22% of Scottish adults met the 5- a - day reccomendation while 10% did not did not consume any fruit or vegetables at all. furthermore overweight and obesity is the second biggest cause of cancer in the UK - more than 1 in 20 cancer cases are caused by excess weight
diet
R - However, those living in poverty find it a lot harder to have a healthier diet than those in more affluent areas.
E - Those living in more deprived areas often find it hard to even have enough food to eat, and so often choose the cheapest, a lot of the time unhealthier, food options, because healthier foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables are more expensive than cheap processed food
example?
e - In 2017/2018 16% of adults in the most deprived areas reported being worried about running out of food, compared with 4% in the least deprived areas.
P - Another lifestyle choice that can cause ill health is smoking.
E - Smoking is very damaging to a person’s health and smokers are more likely to develop cancer have a stroke or have a heart attack
example?
e - There are nearly 100,000 smoking-related hospital admissions every year in Scotland, equating to 1,923 people a week , 274 people a day or 11 people an hour. In addition to this about half of all regular cigarette smokers will eventually be killed by their addiction.
smoking
R - However those living in more deprived areas are a lot more likely to smoke
e - Smoking is a lot more common in poorer areas, than richer areas and therefore a lot more poorer people are suffering from these smoking -related health conditions.
example?
e - in 2018 adults living in the most deprived areas continued to be around 3 times more likely to smoke than those in the least deprived areas, with 32% smoking in the most deprived and 9% in the least.
ALCOHOL
p - Another lifestyle choice that can cause ill health is excessive alcohol consumption
e - drinking too much can be very damaging to a person’s health. In particular Scotland is notorious for this because there is a significant ‘booze culture’ . Over consumption of alcohol can lead to serious liver damage and even death.
example?
e - there were 1,190 alcohol-specific deaths in 2020 - an increase of 17% on the previous year. Additionally there were 35,781 alcohol-related hospital admissions in Scotland in 2019/2020.
R - However excessive drinking is a lot more prevalent in more deprived areas.
e - Over consumption of alcohol is a lot more common in poorer areas because of the drinking culture in these areas and also many drink to escape the problems and stresses of their situation.
example?
e - People living in the most deprived areas were more likely to drink at hazardous or harmful levels than those living in the least deprived. The figure is 27% for most deprived and 18% in the least.
R - However, arguably the underlying cause of geographical inequality is in fact deprivation.
E - Often in cities their is a clear difference in health between the poorer and richer areas, therefore can geography really be the cause of health inequality when areas that are geographically close together be so far apart on terms of health?
example?
e - For example, a new council report shows that residents in the affluent community of Mannofield live on average nearly 17 years longer than those in the poorer Woodside area of Aberdeen city.
P - Another cause of health inequality is a persons geographical location
E - The health of people in rural areas is on average better than that of urban areas with higher life expectancy and a lower number of potential years of life lost from cancers, coronary heart disease and stroke. This could be because of factors such as less traffic and air pollution.
e?
For example, on average in the UK, people living in predominantly rural areas have a two-year longer life expectancy and rate their wellbeing as slightly higher than those in predominantly urban areas.
