In Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, life expectancy is less than 60 years, while in the Back Bay—just a couple of miles away—it’s close to 90.
That’s according to the most recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “500 Cities” project, which includes health information from 500 cities across the country, by census tract. The data show how neighborhoods are faring in terms of health using a range of metrics, from obesity to smoking to mental health to uninsured rates.
In a February 18, 2019 New England Cable News (NECN) segment, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s S V Subramanian said that health and well-being is directly tied to income.
“We’ve never seen this level of income inequality outside of the Gilded Age,” said Subramanian, professor of population health and geography. Affordable, comprehensive health care and a focus on education could help reduce the disparities, he said.
Watch the NECN segment: Your Neighborhood Could Be Harming Your Health
Learn more
Disparities in life expectancy in Massachusetts driven by societal factors (Harvard Chan School news)