Avoidable deaths plummet – but not for those in low-income areas - The Globe and Mail -
The report found that those living in the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada are twice as likely to die from preventable causes than those living in the most affluent areas. The trend is even more significant when separated by gender: Men in the poorest areas were four times as likely to die from preventable causes than females living in the most well-off neighbourhoods. The findings reflect a growing recognition that people in lower socioeconomic groups often fare worse than others when it comes to health because of a complex range of factors, such as higher rates of obesity and smoking. But the continued existence of this disparity suggests more action is needed to curb rates of preventable mortality among the poor.
Population health researchers have effectively documented the extent of food insecurity in Canada; the work of the University of Toronto’s Valerie Tarasuk is especially powerful in this respect, as are the reports of the Toronto Department of Public Health. We have perhaps not taken advantage of opportunities to frame food security as a human rights issue, a matter of priorities. Maybe food security for all is just more important than freeway widenings or fighter aircraft … or maybe we don’t even need to make those choices. Prof. DeSchutter pointed out that: “The tax-to-GDP ratio of Canada … is now in the lowest third of OECD countries. Consequently, Canada has the fiscal space to address the basic human needs of its most marginalized and disempowered.”
The commissioners identify investments to reduce child poverty and homelessness as “protective measures” that reduce the damaging effects of well-known “risk factors.” They also classify anti-gay, anti-woman and racist behaviour as “underlying risk factors” for mental health problems. When it comes to safeguarding the mind and brain, settling for mere health is setting the bar too low, the report says. We should strive for health, well-being and thriving, the last a term we use for newborns but forget about quickly as the focus shifts to preparing the child for life in the cruel world.
Canada News: UN food envoy blasts inequality, poverty in Canada - thestar.com -
“This is a country that is rich but that fails to adapt the levels of social assistance benefits and its minimum wage to the rising costs of basic necessities, including food and housing,” De Schutter said.
Toronto study links breakfast with school success - Toronto - CBC News -
According to the study, 78 per cent of students who ate breakfast on most days were on-track for graduation compared to 61 per cent of students who ate breakfast only on a few days or not at all.
In particular, teen girls whose mothers have little education are much more likely to give birth than girls with better-educated mothers. Even more interesting is the way that economic inequality amplifies nonmarital births to teen moms. In particular, “women with low socioeconomic status have more teen, nonmarital births when they live in higher-inequality locations, all else equal.” The measure of inequality used here is not the fabled gap between the 1 percent and the 99 percent, but the gap between the median income and incomes at the 10th percentile. It measures, in other words, the gap between poor people and the local average household. It may be a proxy for how plausible it would be for a girl from a low-income household to rise into the middle class. The more difficult that rise seems, the more births there are to unmarried teens.
Have We Turned the Page on Social Science Research for Health? « Censemaking -
Anecdotally speaking, this trend is not unique to the social sciences, but it is amplified in this domain. Social sciences in Canada and abroad are consistently funded at lower levels than that of basic research (see here for a starting point). But what is interesting is that many of the problems that we face within health require social science knowledge and research to address and social science — from knowledge translation, social network studies, technology adoption, innovation, management, to policy implementation and beyond . Prevention of disease and chronic illness is often a social phenomenon (e.g., hand washing). Even the act of taking the best of basic science and translating it into practice or policy options (or other scientific research) is a social act that draws on social science research to execute. Social determinants of health are social in nature and require social science to understand their impact. Designing the policy and programmatic interventions that support creating a healthier society also falls to social science research and practice.
Our cars are killing us – and not just in the way you might think - The Globe and Mail -
Two studies published this week drive home the message that an overreliance on the car can contribute to the development of heart disease.
The mental health strategy offers some promising directions for achieving good mental health and well-being for all Canadians. Acting on the social determinants of health was identified as a priority area. The Commission rightly argued that different populations face different barriers to good mental health and that interventions must be targeted to ensure that the right kinds of support are available and that supports meet each individual’s needs. This means that efforts to address social determinants must be coordinated across all levels of government and must include a broad range of social services, not just health care.
Health, employment, and economic change, 1973-2009: repeated cross sectional study | BMJ -
Conclusion Between 1973 and 2009, the relation between good health and securing and sustaining employment has strengthened for both men and women. For men, this has been due to employment rates decreasing and economic inactivity rates increasing among men with poor health. For women, this has largely been due to a general trend of increased employment and reduced economic inactivity occurring among healthier women but not in women of poorer health. Some evidence suggests that, since 2005, the relation between health, employment, and economic inactivity for women in the top two occupational groups has become more like that for men, with poor health becoming associated with reducing employment rates.