What Shapes Health-Related Behaviors? The Role of Social Factors

Outlines how social factors such as education, income, and neighborhood conditions affect stress levels and access to healthy choices and medical care, in turn shaping health-related behaviors. Lists promising programs for creating healthier environments

A Health Disparities Perspective on Obesity Research

Obesity is a major risk factor for chronic disease and can decrease longevity, quality of life, and economic productivity. Compelling ethical, human rights, and practical reasons exist for addressing social disparities in obesity, which requires systematically applying a disparities perspective to obesity research and relevant policy. A disparities perspective guides us to consider multiple dimensions and levels of social advantage and disadvantage and how those advantages and disadvantages produce disparities in obesity and its consequences

Early Childhood Experiences: Laying the Foundation for Health Across a Lifetime

Outlines current research on how factors such as parents' education, income, and race/ethnicity affect children's development and health throughout life, as well as how early childhood development programs can mitigate socioeconomic disadvantages

Race and Socioeconomic Factors Affect Opportunities for Better Health

Examines racial/ethnic disparities in mortality and diabetes rates and the links between income and health within and across groups. Explores how race/ethnicity affects income at a given education level or socioeconomic conditions at a given income level

Where We Live Matters for Our Health: Neighborhoods and Health

Details how a neighborhood's physical and socioeconomic environments, such as safety and access to fresh produce, exercise opportunities, and medical services, affect residents' health. Highlights local interventions to make neighborhoods healthier

Overcoming Obstacles to Health

Social differences in health can be reduced, but only if solutions can be identified to address their root causes. The greatest potential lies in solutions that will help people choose health. That means both strengthening individuals’ ability to make healthy choices and removing obstacles to choosing health. It also means creating more opportunities to be healthy. The human impact of health is clear: Health is essential to well-being and full participation in society, and ill health can mean suffering, disability and loss of life. The economic impacts of health have become increasingly apparent. If current trends continue, medical care costs, now about 16 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP),1 will reach 20 percent of GDP by 2015.2 The costs of medical care and insurance are now out of reach for many households, pushing some into bankruptcy. These costs are draining employers’ resources, threatening the bottom line of many American businesses. Federal, state and local health care spending is straining government budgets. Our society’s aging and the obesity epidemic will further increase costs of care

Where We Live Matters for Our Health: The Links Between Housing and Health

Explains how physical conditions within homes, conditions in the neighborhoods, and housing affordability affect physical and mental health. Looks at past initiatives and offers strategies for improving health through public and private housing policies

Eligibility and enrollment in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)--27 states and New York City, 2007-2008.

The national Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides nutrition education, growth monitoring, breastfeeding promotion and support, and food to low-income pregnant or postpartum women, infants, and children aged <5 years. Several studies have linked WIC services with improved maternal and infant health outcomes. Most population-based studies have lacked information needed to identify eligible women who are not receiving WIC services and might be at risk for poor health outcomes. This report uses multistate, population-based 2007-2008 survey data from CDC's Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) and California's Maternal and Infant Health Assessment (MIHA) to estimate how many women were eligible but not enrolled in WIC during pregnancy and to describe their characteristics and their prevalence of markers of risk for poor maternal or infant health outcomes. Approximately 17% of all women surveyed were eligible but not enrolled in WIC during pregnancy. The proportion of women eligible for WIC and WIC participation rates varied by state. WIC participants had higher prevalences of markers of risk for poor maternal or infant health outcomes than eligible nonparticipants, but both groups had higher prevalences of risk markers than ineligible women, suggesting that many eligible women and their children might benefit from WIC services. The results of this analysis can help identify the scope of WIC outreach needed to include more eligible nonparticipants in WIC and whom to target