>From STATCAN's October 18th DAILY     **

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  http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/041018/d041018.pdf

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04 10 18 08 30
Monday, October 18, 2004. Released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time


OTHER RELEASES

    Study: Neighbourhood Influences on health in Montréal, 2000/01
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Study: Neighbourhood Influences on health in Montréal 2000/01


   The neighbourhood you live in can affect your health, according to a recent
study of neighourhoods in Montréal.

   This study of the Montréal health region showed that neighbourhood had an
impact on health over and above the impact of individual risk factors. These
include smoking, obesity, high stress, and low sense of belonging to the
community, all of which have significant negative effects on health. Household
income is also associated with health-the lower the income group, the worse
their health.

   Such studies are important because of increasing evidence that social
structures within neighbourhoods can affect educational attainment, employment
success, or social connectedness, which in turn can influence individual health.

   These results are consistent with other Canadian studies that show that the
effect of neighbourhood is relatively small.

   This study is one of the few studies to examine the effects of neighbourhoods
on health in Canada. Many studies have shown that neighbourhoods affect health
in the United States and the United Kingdom. But the few Canadian studies
conducted to date suggest that neighbourhood effects in Canada are much smaller,
possibly as a result of policies and programs that aim to reduce economic and
health disparities.

   The study used 2000/01 Canadian Community Health Survey data for the Montréal
health region.

   This study is unique in using "naturally" defined neighbourhoods defined by
local government and real estate boards as the unit of analysis.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3226.

   The study "Neighbourhood Influences on Health in Montréal," Canada published
recently in Social Science and Medicine is a collaboration of Statistics Canada
and researchers at the Department of Geography at McGill University. The
abstract is available in English through PubMed at
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez).

   For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data
quality of the study or to obtain a copy, contact Dr. Nancy Ross
(1-514-398-4307; [log in to unmask]), McGill University or Jean-Marie
Berthelot (613-951-3760; [log in to unmask]), Health Analysis and Measurement Group.

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