In their new book, Unhealthy Cities: Poverty, Race and Place, UAB sociologist Mark LaGory, Ph.D., and University of Arkansas sociologist Kevin Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., argue that the growing residential divisions between the rich and the poor means people living in impoverished communities will remain among the nation's sickest, despite health care reform.
"There is a definite connection between where we live and health," says LaGory. "What the U.S. Census defines as 'high poverty ghettos' have increased dramatically in recent years. America is such a divided society that it literally affects not only the health of individuals but the overall health of society, as well."
Poverty, violent crime, pollution, high lead content in housing and lack of access to grocery stores all work together to make inner cities the most unhealthy places to live in the United States. Unhealthy Cities brings together research and writing from a variety of disciplines to demonstrate the true health costs of being poor in America's urban communities.