Growing up poor makes you stronger8/12/2023 ![]() Smoking and unhealthy eating habits are more prevalent among the poor. These worries can leave their mark on children, both in the form of a more volatile childhood environment and, potentially, through the mother's own genetic makeup: Animal studies have shown that anxieties about certain stimuli can be hereditary. ![]() Food-stamp recipients cannot use their benefits to buy diapers, and last year, a team of researchers at Yale University's School of Medicine found that mothers who couldn't afford diapers for their babies were more likely to feel depressed and anxious. One study found that the anxiety of living in poverty is a stronger predictor of mental health problems than going to war. ![]() In a groundbreaking study in Science last year, people who were primed to think about financial problems did worse on a series of tests that involved decision-making-a sign that physical scarcity can make it difficult for our brains to free up enough space for long-term planning. "If you have a whole bunch of bad experiences growing up, you set up your brain in such a way that it's your expectation that that's what life is about," James Perrin, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told me. "Exposure to stress over time gets under the skin of children and adolescents, which makes them more vulnerable to disease later in life," says Gene Brody, founder and director of the University of Georgia Center for Family Research.Ĭhild-rearing problems that are more prevalent among poor households, such as chronic neglect or a parent's incarceration, compound on money woes and congeal into something known as "toxic stress." These " adverse childhood experiences" jab at the brain at critical moments in its development, changing the architecture of key brain structures and setting the stage for long-term anxiety and mood-control issues. Poor nutrition, trying times, and environmental toxins in childhood can turn certain genes "on" or "off." Even poor children who seemingly overcome the hardships of poverty-by making good grades and adapting socially-tend to have higher levels of stress hormones, blood pressure, and body mass index than their wealthier peers. What's more, the pressure of being poor sometimes weighs so heavily that the body pumps out more stress hormones, which ravage the immune system over time. In McDowell, the averages are 64 and 73, about the same as in Iraq."īut a growing body of evidence suggests that the very condition of living with no money, in a tumultuous environment, and amid stark inequality can alter individuals' gene expression. Writing in the New York Times, Annie Lowrey found that though Virginia's Fairfax County and West Virginia's McDowell County are separated by just 350 miles, men in the richer Fairfax County have "a life expectancy of 82 years and women, 85, about the same as in Sweden. People of a lower socioeconomic status have a 50 percent higher risk of developing heart disease, for example. A healthy diet, as one study determined last year, costs $1.50 more per day than an unhealthy one.Īnd it's well known that low-income people aren't as healthy. The immediate lifestyle implications of such an income are clear: It's not enough to buy a decent one-bedroom apartment in most cities, let alone a gym membership, fresh produce, or access to high-end medical care. One in every six Americans lives in poverty–for an individual, that means earning less than $11,670 per year. The bike program is one example of the various ways physicians are attacking a vexing problem that's not in any medical handbook: Poor patients are sicker, and their poverty actually makes them sick. Low-income people may live in dangerous areas, have little free time, lack access to parks, or some combination. People earning less than $36,000 are far less likely to exercise than those earning $80,000 or more. ![]() Meyers realizes that sedentariness is one of the many ills that afflict the poor to a greater degree than the rich. Plus, doctors at Boston Medical Center use their electronic medical records to prescribe the bikes, and they plan to measure how patients' use of the bikes tracks with their weight and health over time. "Boston is pretty compact, parking is always a problem, and getting around on a bicycle makes all the sense in the world," he said. Meyers thinks the two-wheeled solution tackles several problems at once. For patients without bank accounts, Boston even puts up its own city credit card. The bike-prescribing program is paid for by the city. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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