Do you live in a neighborhood where most of the neighbors have low income ? Then your probability of suffering from obesity and diabetes is much higher , according to a study by the University of Chicago (USA) and published in the New England Journal of Medicine .
Studying a total of 4,500 families settled in areas where 40% of the neighbors had incomes below the poverty level, and observing how their health changed when part of them moved to an area with low levels of poverty (less than 10 %), the researchers found that in women who did not improve their housing conditions, the prevalence of suffering from extreme obesity was 18%. In contrast, women who had the opportunity to move to better neighborhoods reduced their extreme obesity by 3.5% . In addition, the prevalence of diabetes also decreased with the change of residence, specifically by 5%, which indicates that the measure may be as effective as prescribing certain drugs.
