People living in poorer neighborhoods increased risk for death, worse health....

[Guest guest]

" ...we were surprised that the differences persisted after controlling for

lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, exercise and medical risks. "

" We need to target public health interventions to these neighborhoods that

are deprived by improving health resources and the physical environments in

those areas. "

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/aafc-pli120109.php

>

> Contact: Tara Yates

> tara.yates@...

> 267-646-0558

> American Association for Cancer Research

>

> People living in poorer neighborhoods at increased risk for death, worse

> health risks

>

> HOUSTON - Regardless of an individual's dietary and lifestyle risk

factors,

> living in a poorer or more socioeconomically deprived neighborhood may

> increase a person's risk for death, according to data presented at the

> American Association for Cancer Research Conference on Frontiers in

Cancer

> Prevention Research, held Dec. 6-9, 2009.

>

> Researchers conducted the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study and found that

> people living in poorer neighborhoods, as determined by U.S. Census data,

> reported higher health risks, including heart disease and cancer, and

were

> more likely to die sooner regardless of lifestyle and other risk factors.

>

> " We were expecting that once we controlled for these lifestyle and

medical

> risk factors, the differences would go away, " said Chyke Doubeni, M.D.,

> M.P.H., assistant professor of family medicine and community health and

> assistant vice provost for diversity at the University of Massachusetts

> Medical School. " We weren't surprised by the unadjusted differences, but

we

> were surprised that the differences persisted after controlling for

> lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, exercise and medical risks. "

>

> Previous data have demonstrated that people from lower socioeconomic

groups

> have poorer health outcomes. Doubeni and colleagues prospectively

evaluated

> whether people living in more deprived neighborhoods have a higher

mortality

> risk.

>

> Through the NIH-AARP study, they collected diet, lifestyle and medical

> history data from a prospective cohort of 565,697 participants, aged 50

to

> 71, from six U.S. states and two metropolitan areas during 1995 to 1996.

> Participants' mean age was 62 years, and the cohort consisted of 60

percent

> men, 91 percent non-Hispanic whites, 4 percent non-Hispanic blacks and 9

> percent had a history of cancer.

>

> Results revealed that a larger percentage of participants living in the

> most deprived neighborhoods reported poorer general health, higher

average

> body mass index and lower Mediterranean diet scores, meaning that their

> diets were unhealthy. After Doubeni and colleagues controlled for dietary

> and lifestyle factors, the risk for death increased as the levels of

> deprivation in the neighborhood increased.

>

> " We, as practitioners, either in the health care systems or clinics,

should

> be alert to the needs of people from these backgrounds, " Doubeni said.

" We

> need to target public health interventions to these neighborhoods that

are

> deprived by improving health resources and the physical environments in

> those areas. "

>

> Doubeni and colleagues are currently evaluating how living in a

> socioeconomically deprived neighborhood may influence overall cancer

> incidence and mortality, specifically focusing on colorectal cancer.