Blog #10 Americans in Poverty at Greater Risk for Chronic Health Problems

A US NEWS article goes on stating that poverty doesn't just mean trouble making ends meet and having few assets. According to data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Americans in poverty are more likely to suffer from a variety of chronic health problems, both psychological and physical. Of the illnesses tracked in a Gallup report on the data, depression has the greatest gap between those in poverty and not in poverty. Nearly 31 percent of adults who lived below the poverty line in 2011 said they had been diagnosed with depression at some point, almost twice as high as the rate for those not in poverty — 15.8 percent. The share of adults in poverty with asthma (17.1 percent) or obesity (31.8 percent) was also roughly 6 percentage points higher in each case than the share of adults not in poverty. The study also showed that diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart attacks were slightly more likely to afflict those in poverty than those who are not. While that finding is striking, the Gallup report points out that the causal relationship between depression and poverty — not to mention the other diseases listed in the study — is complicated. Depression can be associated with other chronic illnesses, and depression can both lead to and result from poverty. In addition, outside factors could contribute to any of these problems. One outside factor is health habits. Smoking was far more prevalent among adults in poverty, 33 percent of whom said they were smokers, compared to 19.9 percent of those not in poverty.
This article can also relate to our most recent chapter and discussion in class. Some chronic illnesses can eventually lead to death based on its severity. This can play a huge role in the death and birth rate through the Demographic Transition Theory. Poverty is an issue many families face, but I guess some of us are blinded to the fact that along with poverty comes issues such a depression, increased exposure to risks and decreased access to health services, etc... Psychosocial factors are also a good example of lack of social support and perceived lack of control, are strongly related to the risk of chronic diseases. Countries around the world struggle with the best way to provide affordable health care. Most countries offer a system of national health care, but in many places this is severely underfunded or unavailable.

 http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/10/30/americans-in-poverty-at-greater-risk-for-chronic-health-problems