Healthy living

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Ana Diez Roux, dean and professor of epidemiology at Drexel University. ... BATH • GENEVA • SODUS. KING FERRY • NE
Your Good Health Healthy living

Neighborhoods play big role in heart health, study says and vegetables,” said Dr. Ana Diez Roux, dean and professor of epidemiology at Drexel University. “Location, location, “The environment location” isn’t just an old interacts with personal real estate cliché. It’s also characteristics and can a major factor when it serve as a facilitator or comes to heart health, impediment in subtle but according to an overview very important ways.” article published in the One of the biggest American Heart Associaimpediments to heart tion journal Circulation. health is an inability The article studied a for people to walk, bike growing body of literature on the relationship between and exercise in many lower-income neighborneighborhoods and heart hoods, said Sanchez. health and “the complex “Neighborhoods where web of inter-related social, there is some affluence economic and physical are more likely to have factors that appear to sidewalks, trails, parks, influence health behaviors and other amenities and cardiovascular risk.” that some of us take The article concluded for granted,” he said. that “where patients “Lower-income neighlive may be an importborhoods have characterant contributor to the istics that make it harder risk of developing carto be physically active — diovascular disease.” characteristics like heavy “ZIP code matters as traffic, poor lighting, and much, if not more, than the higher likelihood of genetic code, at least for loose dogs running around some people,” said Dr. that may keep children Eduardo Sanchez, chief and others indoors.” medical officer for preLiving near busy streets vention at the American can be unhealthy for other Heart Association. reasons, said Diez Roux. “Neighborhood char“Exposure to heavy acteristics make a differtraffic may also be linked ence,” he said. “Behavior to cardiovascular health factors like what you eat, through the effects of air how sedentary you are, pollution,” she said. and whether you smoke The article pointed are all affected by social out a link between poor factors like the quality of heart health and neighyour neighborhood and borhoods where people the income of your neighexperience racial segregaborhood … not just the tion and discrimination. income of the individual.” “Predominantly poor and Where you live “makes minority neighborhoods it easier or more difficult often have social and to adopt and especially physical environments that maintain health behaviors are not conducive to cardiolike being physically active, vascular health … and these consuming less calories, differences arise because of or consuming more fruits economic factors, differences in power, and structural racism,” said Diez Roux. The differences, she said, “in turn reinforce residential segregation, Primary Care. Dental. creating Counseling. Family Planning. a vicious cycle that Everyone welcome. Most insurances accepted. Call 315-536-2752 for an appointment today.

By American Heart Association News

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Designing a healthy community The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention know that being physically active is hard if you do not have access to sidewalks or parks and eating right is hard if healthy foods are not available. Good health starts with where you live, learn, work and play, so the CDC has created a checklist to help communities and their elected officials make decisions about land use that will make everyone happier and healthier. Find that checklist by visiting https://www.cdc. gov/healthyplaces/toolkit/ healthy_community_design_ checklist.pdf For more information on healthy community design, go to the following websites: • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Healthy Places: www.cdc.gov/ healthyplaces • LEED-ND and Healthy Neighborhoods: http://www.cdc.gov/ healthyplaces/factsheets/ LEED-ND_tabloid_Final.pdf • Physical Activity and Health: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/health/ index.html • Community Guide to Preventive Services. Environmental and Policy Approaches to Increase Physical Activity: Community–Scale Urban Design Land Use Policies: http://www. thecommunityguide.org/pa/ environmental-policy/communitypolicies.html

reinforces health disparities.” Sanchez lauded the article for pointing out that cardiologists need to recognize the role that neighborhoods may play in their patients’ heart health. “Context matters,” he said. “Understanding the context helps the clinician to think of other options, but also it keeps the clinician from blaming the patient.”

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