I just finished reading an intriguing article in Newsweek Magazine looking at the correlation between ZIP codes of wealthier areas versus poorer areas. Researchers do believe that the ZIP code is an accurate predictor for obesity. In a study published in the Journal of Social Science and Medicine, University of Washington researchers found that people living in ZIP codes with the highest property values were the slimmer compared to people living in ZIP codes with low property value whose population was very fat. This simply verifies the theory of socioeconomic status and overall health. The wealthier the person the better the health and overall fitness level. This is due to the affordability of health foods and health clubs.
The nature of neighborhoods also determines the availability to healthy food, gyms, personal fitness trainers and better schools for children. In very poor neighborhoods you will typically find poor schools, a glut of fast food restaurants and gas station mini marts where the disadvantaged poor often buy their food.
From a statistical point of view of median home values, for every $100,000 of value, added obesity will drop by 2%
In neighborhoods with homes worth 1.5 million obesity rates are at a mere 5 percent! Conversely, In neighborhoods with homes valuing less that $200,000 obesity rates average 30 percent. What really blows my mind is that these statistics seems consistent across the board in many regions of the US.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment