The Glasgow Effect
The Glasgow Effect is a report exploring the reasons for the poor health status of Glasgow and why, when compared to equally deprived UK cities, Glasgow has a shockingly high level of premature mortality.
The report looks at many statistics for Glasgow – including poverty (fig.1 and fig.2) and mortality rates (fig.3 and fig.4) – and compares them to similar statistics for two other similarly deprived cities, Manchester and Liverpool. By comparing the three cities it becomes easier to understand ‘The Glasgow Effect’ as although the cities display similar levels and patterns of deprivation, the number for premature mortality is much higher in Glasgow. As stated in the report, “deaths among Glaswegians (relative to residents of Liverpool and Manchester) 27% higher in relation to lung cancer, 32% higher for external causes, almost 70% higher for suicide, 2.3 times higher for alcohol-related causes, and almost 2.5 times higher for drug-related poisonings.”
Perhaps these shocking statistics presenting the high number of premature deaths could also be related to Scottish Culture. When many people think of Scottish Culture they immediately think of a variety of unhealthy food and drink. Irn Bru, Whiskey, Tablet and deep fried food to name a few. Not only are these damaging to our health but many unhealthy food and drink is available at the touch of a button. With the introduction of takeaway apps and delivery services, we don’t even need to leave our house to get access to such foods. In addition to this, binge drinking is also a serious problem in Scottish Culture. Many people nowadays tend not to drink in moderation but drink to get drunk. This, for most people, involves consuming unhealthy amounts of alcohol.
Are Scottish People Healthy?
I find this question to be incredibly broad and I don’t think there is a definite answer to the question. There are many people in Scotland who live an incredibly healthy lifestyle – exercising daily, not smoking or using drugs, and eating a balanced diet. On the other hand, many people live very unhealthy lives – binge drinking, smoking, rarely exercising and eating unhealthy food.
In today’s lecture, we spoke about how unhealthy habits established in childhood often contribute to dietary habits, smoking, alcohol use and inactivity. As a future teacher, I think it is incredibly important to encourage children to live a healthy and active lifestyle.
