From BusinessWeek online:
“Smoking and obesity are known to lead to a host of life-threatening conditions from cardiovascular disease to cancer, but poverty may be even worse for your health, new research suggests.
According to a study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, people whose household earnings are in the bottom one-third of the U.S. population, or up to twice the federal poverty level, lost 8.2 years of perfect health. Obesity related to a 4.2 year loss in perfect health, while smokers lost 6.6 years. Healthy life lost is a measure that includes health and life expectancy.
Dropping out of high school was also a marker for poorer health. High school dropouts had 5.1 fewer years of perfect health, according to the report in the December issue of the American Journal of Public Health.”
Read the complete article at BusinessWeek online.
