Health Divides

A Relationship Between Place and Health

Health inequalities exist between and within rich and poor nations, including wealthy nations like the United States and the United Kingdom. England has a health divide between the north and the south – which enjoys better health – since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Scotland has an east-west divide. The US and China have north-south disparities.

“Compositional” Factors

Why do some places and their people enjoy better health? “Health geography” experts offer two interconnected explanations. The “compositional explanation” examines how the traits of people in a given location shape its health outcomes. This school says the residents’ demographic elements (race, age, gender), behavioral elements (smoking, alcohol abuse) and socioeconomic elements (income, job type, education level) determine how healthful or unhealthy a place is. Race or ethnicity can increase or decrease someone’s positive health outcomes. Within the United States, African-Americans live, on average, four fewer years than whites. Such racial and ethnic health disparities reflect socioeconomic inequalities. Women...