unit 2 - neighborhood conditions and health Flashcards
how do neighborhood conditions shape health?
poverty in the U.S has become more concentrated in the last decade
- one in every four persons lives in a high poverty neighborhood (at least 20% of the residents are poor)
social and economic features have been linked to:
- mortality
- general health status
- disability
- birth outcomes
- chronic conditions
- health behaviors
physical enviornment
built and natural environment
service environment
neighborhood resources directly or indirectly tied to healh
social environment
social relationships among residents
natural environmnet
physical conditions such as air, water, and soil quality; hazardous substances, streets, sidewalks, buildings
built environment
human-made such as bike paths, pedestrian bridges, cross walks
- extremely difficult to have the motivation, ability, and availability to engage in health behaviors if the conditions are not favorable
making the connection
- Lead poisoning in children can severely and permanently affect their
mental and physical development - Air particulate matter is hazardous to human health
- Community and street design interventions that improve walking and bicycling opportunities have been associated with increases in physical
activity - Built environment attributes have been associated with crime, perceived
safety, and health behaviors
physical characterisitcs
street design, traffic safety and aesthetics of a built environemtn have all be associated with important health behaviors such as physical activity
impact on children
- Children are particularly vulnerable growing up in disadvantaged
community - Environmental hazards (lead, pollution)
- Aggressive advertising of alcohol and tobacco products
- Lower quality child care options
- Lack of safe and appealing places to play
- Neighborhood filled with crime, violence, and instability
service conditions
are features of the physical environments that provide services to
the public, such as schools, child care centers, grocery stores, public transportation
systems, businesses, and parks
transit service
important for daily life and can promote physical activity
* Large share of public transit riders are low-income, Hispanics, and seniors
* Low-income neighborhoods often experience inferior transit service, overcrowding, and inconvenient routes
* Unreliable transportation can lead to late fees for child care, lower earnings, and possible job loss
recreational facilities
low income and high-minority neighborhoods are less likely to have physical activity facilities
businesses
- As the number of alcohol outlets increases, so
do levels of crime and violence - Liquor stores are more common in low-
income areas - High concentration of fast food restaurants is
associated with obesity - Predominantly black neighborhoods have a
higher concentration of fast-food restaurants - Full service supermarkets
- Significantly fewer supermarkets are located
in predominantly Black neighborhoods,
regardless of residents’ income
social conditions
the social relationships among community members,
such as mutual trust and support
* Degree of mutual trust and feelings of connectedness among neighbors
* More likely to exchange information and work together to achieve common
goals
* Maintain informal social controls (discouraging crime, littering, or graffiti)
* Collective efficacy
* Children received guidance from multiple adults and less likely to engage in
health-damaging behaviors
contextual or compositional influence
- Should we focus on the features of the
neighborhood or primarily on the individuals that
live in them? - One of the challenges in research – but numerous
studies have identified multiple associations
between neighborhood conditions and health, even
after taking into account relevant individual
characteristics - For example, the length of exposure to a lower-
poverty neighborhood during childhood is a key
determinant of an individual’s long-term
economic outcomes and future earnings
potential
