Futurity.org » socioeconomic status

Arthritis risk higher in poor neighborhoods

Rebecca Scott-Melbourne — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:48:57 +0000

U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — People living in poor neighborhoods are 42 percent more at risk of getting arthritis than those that live in affluent areas, new research shows.

Published in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, a study reveals that more than 30 percent of people living in socially disadvantaged areas reported having arthritis—as opposed to 18.5 percent in wealthier areas.

Lower emissions, less money, long life?

Richard Ashby-Leeds — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:12:19 +0000

U. LEEDS (UK) — Countries with high incomes and high carbon emissions do not achieve higher life expectancies than those with moderate incomes and lower carbon emissions, a new study finds.

The finding challenges the assumption that human well-being requires growth in both economic activity and carbon emissions.

Racism may harm your health

Amy Hodges-Rice — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:45:11 +0000

RICE (US) — A new study finds 18 percent of blacks and 4 percent of whites report emotional and/or physical distress due to racial discrimination.

“Discriminatory behavior very well may be a ‘missing link’ in the analysis of racial and ethnic health disparities,” Rice University sociologist Jenifer Bratter says. “It’s important to acknowledge and study its impact on long-term health.

Bah, humbug! Rich slower to show empathy

Yasmin Anwar-UC Berkeley — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:44:36 +0000

UC BERKELEY (US) — Dickens was right on the money with his depiction of Cratchit and Scrooge. Poor people are quicker to show compassion than the rich, a study shows.

A study published in the journal Emotion finds that individuals in the upper-middle and upper classes are less able to detect and respond to the distress signals of others. Overall, the results indicate that socioeconomic status correlates with the level of empathy and compassion that people show in the face of emotionally charged situations.

Economic fallout: The college loan crunch

A'ndrea Elyse Messer-Penn State — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:15:50 +0000

PENN STATE (US) — The rising cost of a college education and limited access to financial aid may create a less productive workforce and steeper wealth inequity, a new study finds.

Students with low-income parents find it more difficult to find funds to pay for a college education now compared to students of similar economic backgrounds in the 1980s, says Alexander Monge-Naranjo, assistant professor of economics at Penn State.

Middle class, not poor, eat more fast food

Karen Finney-UC Davis — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:41:07 +0000

UC DAVIS (US) — As earnings increase from low to middle class, so does the frequency of fast-food dining, weakening the argument that fast food can be blamed for higher rates of obesity among the poor.

“There is a correlation between obesity and lower income, but it cannot be solely attributed to restaurant choice,” says J. Paul Leigh, professor of public health sciences at University of California, Davis. “Fast-food dining is most popular among the middle class, who are less likely to be obese.”

DNA ‘remembers’ early living conditions

Katherine Gombay-McGill — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:51:56 +0000

MCGILL (CAN) — Family living conditions in childhood are associated with significant effects in DNA that persist well into middle age, new research shows.

Scientists looked for gene methylation associated with social and economic factors in early life and found clear differences between people brought up in families with very high and very low standards of living.
More than twice as many methylation differences—1,252 as opposed to 545—were associated with the combined effect of the wealth, housing conditions, and occupation of parents (that is, early upbringing) than were associated with the current socioeconomic circumstances in adulthood.

Why class societies are rule, not exception

Louis Bergeron-Stanford — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:53:22 +0000

STANFORD (US) —The disproportionate suffering of the poor may have been a driving force behind the global spread of class structure during early human civilization, according to a new study.

Using a computer simulation to compare demographic stability and rates of migration for both egalitarian and unequal societies, researchers found that class structure provided unequal access to resources, contributing a destabilizing effect on the population, and driving migration and the expansion of stratified societies.

Lower income raises heart disease risk

Karen Finney-UC Davis — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:24:30 +0000

UC DAVIS (US) — People with less education and lower incomes are much more likely to develop heart disease than those who are wealthier or better educated, according to a recent study.

Reported in the journal BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, the outcomes also show the risk persists even with long-term progress in addressing traditional risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol.

“Being poor or having less than a high school education can be regarded as an extra risk when assessing a patient’s chances of developing cardiovascular disease,” says lead researcher Peter Franks, a professor of family and community medicine at the University of California, Davis. “People with low socioeconomic status need to have their heart-disease indicators managed more aggressively.”

In 20s, hypertension risk for low earners

Futurity-Jenny Leonard — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:53:46 +0000

DUKE (US) — Young adults with lower income and less education face the greatest risk of having high blood pressure, new data shows.

Researchers examined data from more than 14,000 men and women between 24 and 32 years old, exploring why nearly one in five has high blood pressure. The results were published in the July issue of the journal Hypertension.