Gezondheid en leefstijl in de krachtwijken: een verkenning

Health and lifestyle in deprived neighbourhoods: an exploration Introduction: Since 2007 the Dutch government invests extra money in 40 deprived neighbourhoods in the Netherlands where large social problems occur. Poor health is also a problem in these neighbourhoods. In this article the health in 30 deprived neighbourhoods is compared with non-deprived areas in the same cities and population differences between the neighbourhoods are examined as possible explanations. Method: The data used are derived from the Local and National Public Health Monitor (n=28.256), which are collected by the Community Health Services Institutes between 2004 and 2008. General Linear Models (GLM) and logistic regression models are used for the analyses on neighbourhood differences in smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, dietary behaviours, perceived health, overweight / obesity, diabetes and asthma. Results: Residents from disadvantaged neighbourhoods perceive their health as worse (odds ratio (OR) 1.39), are more often obese (OR 1.16), asthmatic (OR 1.33), and diabetic (OR 1.54), than residents from non-deprived neighbourhoods. Furthermore, they smoke more often (OR 1.35) and are less engaged in physical activity (OR 1.20). No neighbourhood differences were found for dietary behaviour, while excessive drinking occurs slightly less in the deprived neighbourhoods and more people don’t drink any alcohol (OR 1.85). Differences in health and lifestyle are partly explained by population differences in education and ethnic backgrounds. Conclusion: This study confirms that attention for health problems in the deprived neighbourhoods is needed. A positive effect on health can be expected from both the interventions addressing the people (employment and education) as those addressing the enviTSG 89 / nummer 4 219 tsg jaargang 89 / 2011 nummer 4 Gezondheid en leefstijl in de krachtwijken: een verkenning pagina 219 / www.tsg.bsl.nl ronment (housing and safety). To determine an effect of the neighbourhood approach on health, it is necessary to continue monitoring the health status in these neighbourhoods.