Social Determinants Of Health

Social determinants of health are factors that help influence the health and well-being of humans.
Social determinants of health occur in all walks of life. Whether it is mental or physical they can be closely related to one another. The ways in which life is laid out for us will determine the future; your personal circumstances are correlated to your socioeconomic status. There is a direct link between health inequality and social determinants. (World Health Organisation, no date) The Dahlgren and Whitehead's, 1991 rainbow model is an excellent way to explain the variable potential links between an individual’s relationship, their environment and health. It has various layers that highlight factors that can have an impact on health and can
Many people choose to eat too much convenience food such as burgers and chips. Poor diet can lead to obesity; individuals can suffer from illnesses such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, diabetes and several others. Families with little or no income have little knowledge of nutrition and basic cooking skills. With the standard of living falling in 2012 and a 25% increase cost of fresh produce, 7% of families were unable to purchase fresh fruit. Consequently, a staggering 4 million people were unable to maintain a healthy diet. (McFadden et al., 2014) This illustrates that when family income is dramatically reduced; outgoing expenses need to be prioritised. This indicates families tend to purchase a diet high in calories but low in nutrients, which may contribute to weight gain. This might be due to unemployment because they have the inability to afford the basics to help maintain a healthy diet; as a consequence, children are eating a highly processed diet. In addition, there is a 40% likelihood that a child with obese parents will become overweight themselves, compared to 22% of children with average weight parents. (Scottish Government, 2016b) Therefore the impact of unemployment does not only have a detrimental impact on the health of the individual but it can also affect family members. A child needs parental guidance to influence and develop a well-balanced diet to maintain good health. Having an unemployed parent
Smoking causes a great deal of long-term health due to diseases of the heart, lung and various cancers and illnesses. In Scotland alone, 20% (around 10,000) of people in Scotland die from smoking. (Scottish Government, 2017b) According to statistics, smoking is the most preventable cause of cancer with 42% of cases in the UK. (Cancer Research UK, no date) In 2016, 23% of men compared to 20% of woman smoke, however in Scotland’s most deprived areas the rates were significantly higher. (Scottish Government, 2017c) Arguably, smoking is a response to financial deprivation, a coping mechanism to deal with its effects, but it’s not just causing poor health, it can be an indication that mental health issues such as depression or stress are present. The dangerous health effects of smoking is the reason the Scottish Government has implemented a new strategy “Creating a Tobacco-Free Generation A Tobacco Control Strategy for Scotland” its vision is to have a smoke free Scotland by 2034, this is on the back of previous strategies, that enabled various legislations and bans to be introduced such as: banning advertising, along with displaying and smoking in public, these were implemented to try and educate and encourage a change in smoking behaviour. This has been successful, as smoking has declined by 7% from 2003-2016 (Scottish Government, 2017d) The relationship