Cardiovascular Risk Higher For Those In Inner-City Neighborhoods

Children living in inner cities are more likely to at risk of developing or even dying from cardiovascular disease. The findings are published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

A team of researchers at St. Michael's Hospital discovered that some residents of inner-city neighborhoods had adopted very unhealthy lifestyles, leaving them sedentary and with poor diets due to poor food choices at limited grocery stores, limited transportation items and few green spaces. These and other problems in the area can all contribute to heart disease, stroke, heart failure and even cardiac death.

"We have to think about how we can improve the neighborhood and urban environment in a way that reduces risk," Dr. Stephen Hwang, director for the Centre for Research on Inner City Health of St. Michael's Hospital, said in a statement.

Oftentimes, inner-city neighborhoods consist of an above average concentration of residents who are both underemployed and sick or disabled and living in poor-quality housing, as well as working full-time on very low paying jobs. Many are also single parents. Limited access to preventative care can also make it rather difficult to find both preventative and in-hospital cardiovascular care for inner-city residents. 

"You can try to develop programs that target marginalized individuals, but the challenge is that you also have to also think about the environment and consider the social world that the person lives in that also has an effect on them," Dr. Hwang added.

Furthermore, those struggling with mental illness in a disadvantaged neighborhood fare even worse when compared to those living in higher income neighborhoods as they are more likely to lead unhealthy lifestyles and less likely to get the care they need.

To help with the problem, researchers suggest that both physicians and health care workers in inner-cities work on encouraging better health behaviors in patients in these areas and supporting healthy physical and social environments in such communities.

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