Social Class and Public Health: Determining Your Health

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Social hierarchy and conditions within a community has a direct impact on the health and wellness of the people that reside within the boundaries of that city. Major contributors to the welfare of a neighborhood include but are not limited to: the area in which they live, their social standing within the population and the income of the individual or family. Each factor has a severe influence on the life expectancy of the peoples within the society. The actual living conditions of people directly correlate to the spread of infectious diseases and infestation of chronic illnesses that result in premature death. Crowding, such as in ghettos and low income projects, creates an unnecessary closeness of people in a community. Therefore we see an increase in the spread of infectious diseases because human to human contact is inevitable. For instance, in the US controlled Marshall Islands has a population of over 10,000 people living in an area smaller than Manhattan. Tuberculosis runs rampant there and is often times left unchecked due to the lack of personal space in conjunction with poor sanitary conditions. Poor sanitation in a region is an effect of lack of public interest in the community and subsequently aids in the demise of the health of the population. The ambiance of a district also sways the wellness of the individuals that reside within the province. It is proven that citizens who have “greener” communities (more parks, grassy areas, trees) are more likely to be healthier and have a greater life expectancy (2). This could stem from a feeling of security which allows for the people of that area engage in exercise more often than people from areas where it is unsafe to walk the streets alone even in the daytime. Lack of r... ... middle of paper ... ... their standard of living. I assume that a person can be healthier and happy by the day to day actions and choices they make. Although there is an increasing premature death rate in the United States, I don’t believe that health is equated to life expectancy, but to the quality of life that you live. And the quality of life is not circumstance, but the outlook of a person, and if they are grateful for what they have, or if they long for what they don’t have. Personally, I am healthy because I am grateful for the life that I lead and the choices I have made to get here. Works Cited 1. Daniels, Normal, Bruce P. Kennedy, and Ichiro Kawachi. "Why Justice Is Good for Our Health: The Social Determinants of Health Inequalities." Daeduls 128.4 (1999): 215-53. Print. 2. Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? Prod. Larry Adelman. California Newsreel, 2008. DVD.

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