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Nice neighbourhood?

A working paper published by the UK Healthy Cities programme surveys the state of knowledge on the relationship between the physical urban environment and health inequalities, covering transport, housing, green space, crime and land use mix. A study of community dwelling older people in Scotland looks at the impact of neighbourhood deprivation on self-perceived quality of life, while another considers whether neighbourhood has an effect on the participation of older people with chronic conditions in daily activities.

Keep active

A review of physical activity programmes targeted at disadvantaged populations concluded that multi-component group-cased programmes were effective for adults, although not for children. Community-wide interventions tended to produce small improvements in physical activity. However, there was only limited evidence for the effectiveness of interventions aimed at hard to reach groups. Those programmes that had some kind of theoretical underpinning tended to work better, as did those that combined physical activity with education and social support. A study from the US offers a meta-analysis of behaviour and health outcomes for physical activity interventions amongst healthy ethnic minority adults. An article in the European Journal of Public Health examines the economic appraisal behind NICE's guidance on environmental interventions to promote physical activity.

Inequality is catching

Data from New Zealand suggest that there are socioeconomic inequalities in the burden of serious infectious disease. The study looked at hospital admissions for infectious and non-infectious disease and found clear ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in infectious disease risk. Results, showing that admissions for infectious disease increased over the period studied, also call into question the theory that in developed societies the health burden shifts towards chronic disease. A study of socioeconomic inequalities in mortality from pandemic influenza in England during the 2009 outbreak shows a similar bias towards poorer populations, with people in the most deprived quintile being three times more likely to die. Some other studies take a look at inequalities in the uptake of influenza vaccines amongst the general population in the US , at risk groups the UK and amongst dementia sufferers in England and Wales.

Born in Bradford

Mining data from the Born in Bradford cohort study, a team from the University of Leeds assesses how the association between maternal mental health and infant growth differs between ethnic groups. A study of women in the north west of England considers the effects of prenatal depression on infant outcomes amongst British Pakistani women. Another output from Born in Bradford tests the diagnostic accuracy of case-finding questions to identify perinatal depression. Finally, a team from the University of York's Mother and Infant Research Unit uses qualitative data to tailor public health messages about breastfeeding to meet the needs of British Bangladeshi women.

Place matters

Diabetes is signficantly more prevalent amongst the poorest in the population than the richest. A handful of recent studies examine how the disease affects people in more deprived neighbourhoods. From the US the SEARCH for diabetes in Youth study looks at prevalence of type 1 diabetes amongst young people. Research from Sweden assesses incidence of coronary heart disease amongst people with diabetes. The Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE) takes a look at the association between neighbourhood deprivation and cardiometabolic risk factors amongst adults with diabetes. Work carried out by the Centre for Primary Care and Public Health at St Barts in London considered ethnic differences in glycaemic control amongst people with type 2 diabetes.