AIBU to think poor health in later life is a UK problem?

I think the thread was about people trying to look at reasons behind a nationwide statistic, rather than individual MNers who may not even be personally affected by the issues they are considering.

im sure that does brilliantly to help mental health and socialising. Once upon a time we could sit in a class with a variety of different people, learn something new but also perhaps make a new friend or at least head to the pub at the end of term. Now people sit alone in their room and talk to an AI bot. Wonderful 🙄

Try having chronic health issues and having rely on the nhs.
That's why my health has deteriorated and will continue to do so.
I can't afford private health care/operations.
I've no doubt my lifespan will be curtailed due to poor/non existent care.

I’m 30 and both my mum and both grandmothers were SAHMs. We were working class too.

I imagine that it also has something to do with benefits. The number of people with anxiety, depression, adhd etc is spiralling because people get paid to have these disorders. If mental illness is included in the ‘poor health’ figures then that would explain a lot.

This is true in my experience, I am a despised boomer (late but still a wrong 'un!😂) and my "silent generation" mum worked full time as did all my friend's mums. We all went back to work after having our babies, I have never known any SAHMs. I've never had the money to have a car so always walked a lot or used public transport which still involves walking as none of it is door to door, always cooked from scratch (why do we say that, what is scratch?), smoked spasmodically from 15 -16 but packed it in due to recurrent throat infections plus never taking to it, lucky me. What has hit me in my later years is just a level of tiredness that I cannot shake off or power through.

Sorry but that’s utterly ridiculous. GDP is meaningless without taking population size into account

Anyone who wants to invoke culture or "attitudes" will need to explain why things have gotten worse in the UK in the last 10 years whilst getting better almost everywhere else. And why these "bad attitudes" always seem to manifest in very different countries like Portugal and the US that just happen have high levels of inequality. Whereas the good attitudes are all concentrated in equally diverse, but much more equal, countries like Finland and Japan.

Obviously personal behaviours mediate health outcomes, but the temptation towards "bad" behaviours (e.g. overeating and being sedentary) is a human universal - we evolved to store calories. So invoking greed and laziness does zero work in explaining the differences between countries or over time - these must be caused by structural and environmental factors, and indeed there is loads of evidence to that effect.

Ultimately, the purpose of these types of analyses is to inform government policy. Reducing inequality, investing in preventative healthcare, providing access to green spaces and improving housing law - these are all evidence-based possible government policies. Telling people to take more personal responsibility is not an effective government policy. It's just a pointless bit of moral posturing.

well there you go......

Ah OK. I had presumed you weren't in the UK.

Well yes I couldn’t see it because it wasn’t cited as important and I was looking for the number one cause of poor health 😂 kind of goes hand in hand.

its a factor but i think the reality is there are so many influencing and compounding factors. The report suggesting self reporting from people with Disabilities and the heath benefits of work are interesting

rural south. Off the top of my head, several pubs that do live music and quiz nights, two community movie theatres, 2 mens sheds, multiple craft groups, two or three walking groups,maybe more, U3A, several volunteer gardening groups, several choirs, multiple boot sales and tabletop sales, a library that does various activities for various ages plus runs a community fridge. All of that stuff is cheap or free. If you can pay (and council evening classes did cost money) various craft and art tutoring groups, meeple cafe, Council leisure centre. Local wildlife walks and activities. All this is what I'd call local local, if you drive 30 mins or so, there is more. oh and a couple of WI's

This is just the stuff that I know exists. I haven't ever actually hunted for stuff to do as I am not a social animal

No, I possibly shouldn't have said number one but, to be fair, you said you couldn't see it at all!

Awaab and Ella are representative of population level housing and environment linked deaths.

Poor housing isn't just about obvious poor health. There are factors such as overcrowding and poor mental health and stress.

I’m struggling to align your strength offering with the report, which didn’t put it as number one.

unhealthy homes can of course be detrimental to your health. Awaabs death is a tragedy of our times -and a national embarrassment, frankly, but not a great example of an impact on healthy living age at population level

The deaths of young workers seem to be related to drugs and iteration bodily harm that could lead to death and women in poorer areas are most effected. Parts of the North East, North West and Scotland.

Young women's mental health is in decline to the detriment of all society

Not getting work will impact mh. Policies that cut jobs are not helping. Many sitting at home over a period of time will decline.

Thanks, I’ll have a look at the report. I don’t actually feel strongly about the results either way, but will concede I have not looked at the report.

This page is also interesting and talks about economic inactivity and housing issues , particularly reflecting on young people. The rot sets in early. It isn't all about diet and exercise. Mental health also has a significant role

https://www.health.org.uk/reports-and-analysis/analysis/socioeconomic-disadvantage-and-self-reported-health

It's like getting blood from a stone.
Like what? And where are you?

I agree with people working longer hours or feeling more stressed regarding work - my own mum was a SAHM when I was young and would cook from scratch and buy food from the fishmonger, the butcher and the greengrocer (and no I am not that old!). I often just bung frozen food in the oven, so not as healthy as cooking from scratch. Food is more about convenience and being fed rather than making a meal for enjoyment.

The rise of social media and comparison to others - as a child McDonald's was a birthday treat (remember the parties you could have there?). It wasn't a weekly thing to have a takeaway yet now a lot of families have this as a treat at least once a week and make it known. Other families do it so people have a why can't I mentality. We see other families doing nice things and days out are less about going for walks and the park, and more big days out which are not always that active. More time is spent on phones (guilty) and less time outdoors.

Lack of NHS support for anything 'non urgent' I have been waiting 6 months now for something minor. Dentist I have to pay private as our NHS dentist changed to private and where I live there is no hope of getting an NHS dentist ever again.
This means I don't go for regular check ups as it's too expensive.

Greater choice on things like schools (but also a growing population). For me there was only one primary school where I grew up so no choice of school and you were able to walk to get there. Now there is two.
Where I now live we had the choice of around 8 schools within the town, not all within walking distance meaning greater choice but more people driving instead of walking to the closest.

What aspect of housing do you work in? The UK's reputation with poor housing is well known and fairly frequently discussed in economic, health and social welfare circles when comparing countries and talking about structural issues.

The UK has the oldest housing stock in OCED countries. We're near the bottom of the table in terms of floorspace per person. We are at the bottom of the OECD in terms of availability. And have the highest percentage of inadequate homes in Europe.

3.8 million homes...

These people you refer to are exactly the people who are facing poor health outcomes. It's a major factor for those living in poverty. It's hard to do the gymnastics to deny or overlook this. The estate is in terrible order.

Look at the machinations the LA went through to try and avoid any reponsibility for the death of Awaab Ishak.

there's quite a lot to do around here.

For example?

The thing is that’s not the number one thing is the report though?

yes damp and mould are problems in poorly maintained (often rented) housing. But it is not common place in the uk. It’s not like significant % of us live with damp and mould in our homes