(Editorial/Houston Chronicle)
An important new survey reveals that 20 percent of Houstonians are in poor or fair health. That is double the national average. The survey, just released by the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, is the most extensive study ever of health, economic and social conditions in Harris County neighborhoods.
Among the findings were that more than a third of all adults under 65 had no health insurance at the time of the survey – conducted from the fall of 2010 to this spring – and 50 percent had no dental insurance, mostly because they could not afford the premiums, respondents said. Almost half of area residents, about 48 percent, had difficulty buying food or paying their rent or mortgage at some point last year.
Economic hardship has an impact on health status, wrote the study’s leader, Dr. Stephen Linder, on the school’s website, so it is not surprising that economically disadvantaged neighborhoods had the highest percentages of lack of insurance and poor to fair health assessments. (Read more at Houston Chronicle)
Related video: Dr. Stephen Linder discusses Health of Houston Survey
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