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‘The Glasgow effect’ is a term used to describe the relationship between Glasgow and poor health and deprivation. After reading the document I discovered that the whole idea of the document is related to income deprivation, age deprivation and sex deprivation but the main findings of the research were closely linked to deprivation overall. The study shows that Glasgow’s levels and patterns of deprivation are almost identical to those of the two other large UK cities, Liverpool and Manchester. however, despite the similarity in deprivation in these areas, Glasgow morality rates are significantly higher than Liverpool and Manchester. The findings show that lung cancer has a 27% higher mortality rate in Glasgow than the other two cities. This trend is the same for suicide, Glasgow has a 70% higher mortality rate than Manchester and Liverpool. Two other higher mortality rates in Glasgow than Manchester and Liverpool are drug and alcohol related deaths with alcohol related deaths being 2.3 times higher (alcohol) and 2.5 times higher (drugs) than Manchester and Liverpool.

Research has also show that ‘The Glasgow effect’ is not something that has always been a prominent feature in Scottish health and deprivation. Research has shown that mortality rates were not always higher than Liverpool and Manchester and that Glasgow rates can be seen improving more slowly than rates in Manchester and Liverpool in the latter part of the 20th century. This suggests that ‘The Glasgow effect’ is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Given the research carried out and considering Scottish culture, it could be determined that ‘The Glasgow effect’ could be caused by many health factors and choices/behaviours such as binge drinking, excessive alcohol consumption, love of fried food, poor diet and a lack of exercise. Cultural and/or social influences clearly contributes to the quality of life and the lifestyle that people lead within certain parts of the country and therefore significantly contributes to ‘The Glasgow effect’.

 

 

Considering my own opinion and after looking into ‘The Glasgow effect’, I believe that as a whole country generalisation, we as a country are not a healthy country, however, this is down to the individual and the individual’s choices and behaviours. In general, I do not think that Scotland is as healthy as we generally have a poor diet, a lack of exercise and a tendency to binge drink. This has led to high rates of mortality compared with the rest of Europe which could easily be changed by making small changes to our diet and lifestyle such as eating more fruit and vegetables, which has been shown to increase our quality of life and benefit our body significantly. We could also drink in moderation and not drink to just get drunk all the time. By including physical exercise such as more walking or playing sports could also help reverse the effects of ‘The Glasgow effect’.

 

The Glasgow Experience has a link between deprivation and health. In the UK Glasgow is not the only place that is experiencing both high levels of deprivation and poor health. Although Scotland is ranked the most unhealthy country in the UK. This document have two main objectives, one being analysing if there is evidence towards a Glasgow effect and comparing Glasgow with other cities to evaluate the measure of deprivation and poor health. The second one being developing data that co-insides with small areas in the three cities, that are Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester being almost identical with deprivation in 2005 as almost a quarter of the population of the total population is classed as having a deprived income. Due to this Glasgow has a higher rate of deaths resulting in 15% more than any other cities.

Scotland is branded for many things which play a part in the decreasing health making diets very poor in many cities such as Glasgow. Such things we are branded for is, fried food such as the famous fried mars bar, irn-bru, shortbread as well as fast foods being so accessible and so on, all of these being having there effects on poor the diet people have making their health dwindle.

In reading this document I would say that Scotland is not healthy due to what we are known for, although I don’t think it was all parts of Scotland that are unhealthy but overall it would be a lie to say we are healthy.

The ‘Glasgow effect’ basically talks about the unexplained link between poor health and the low life expectancy of people living in Glasgow. This compares to those who live in the rest of Great Britain and Europe. Despite, lower income levels are usually associated with poor health and a shorter life expectancy, it has been proven … Continue reading At risk behaviours- ‘The Glasgow effect’ →

The Glasgow Effect focuses on the different health outcomes in UK cities. The main question The Glasgow Effect looks at is why the health outcomes in UK cities differ. Why is it that equally deprived cities have different outcomes?

Scotland has a very poor health profile compared to the rest of Europe. In Scotland, we have the highest mortality rates and lowest life expectancy in the west of Europe. This makes Scotland the most unhealthy country in the UK.

Scotland is well known for its fried food, Irn Bru and excessive drinking, which have massive impacts on a person’s health. Society play’s a big part in Scotland culture. It could be said that Scottish people may be forced to eat fattening foods and drink alcohol because of the massive influence around them. For example, parents could lead a child to eat unhealthily, and peer pressure may lead people to drink excessively. Looking at deprivation in Scotland, fruit and vegetables can be expensive which may lead or force people to pick the unhealthier option. For example, you can get a burger at McDonald’s for 99 pence.

Looking at the deprivation profiles of Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester we can see that they are very similar, Manchester being the lowest at 23.4% and Glasgow being the highest at 24.8%. This is very small difference in percentage, but Scotland’s health profile still suffers.

Comparing mortality profiles of Glasgow to that of Liverpool and Manchester, we can see that mortality in Glasgow was 14% higher in all deaths. ‘Excess mortality’ in Glasgow has showed that 2,090 people under the age of 65 in excess. It has showed that almost half of excessive deaths in Scotland are related to alcohol and drugs.

From looking at The Glasgow Effect and the Scottish survey, I have determined that  I do not believe Scotland is a healthy country. According to the Scottish survey, men drink 5.2 units of alcohol and day and women 2.8 units a day. This is over the daily recommended amount adults should consume therefore this could be a major factor in the death rate in Scotland.