The Glasgow Effect
The Glasgow effect is a term used to describe the poor health status of Glasgow over and above that explained by socio-economic factors. By comparing Glasgow with its two most similar and comparable UK cities, Liverpool and Manchester, researchers aimed to find evidence of a so-called ‘Glasgow Effect’. While the overall levels of deprivation in Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester were almost exactly the same, the all-cause mortality in Glasgow was more than 30% higher whereas the childhood mortality was significantly lower in Glasgow. In Glasgow, between 2003 and 2007 there were 4500 ‘excess deaths’, around half of which were related to alcohol and drugs. Even though researchers have found a number of possible hypotheses to what is causing this so-called ‘Glasgow Effect’, none have officially been proven.
Are Scottish People Healthy?
In terms of statistics, Scotland does have poor health standards and is known as ‘the sick man of Europe’. High levels of alcohol and binge drinking effect many people in Scotland’s health and costs the NHS billions every year. However, according to the Scottish Health Survey 2013 (SHeS) weekly alcohol consumption has decreased significantly and hazardous drinking has decreased from 33% in 2003 to 22% in 2013 for men and from 23% to 16% for women. In poor areas, children are introduced to smoking, drugs and alcohol at a much younger age than in most places. This has a huge impact on their health, whether they are participating in it or not, they are still exposed to it. The SHeS states that children’s exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in the home was 11% however a target has been set to reduce this to 6% by 2020.
Unhealthy food is a major part of Scottish culture and most children are exposed to this at a very young age. 40% of children eat chips two or more times a week and 34% eat cakes at least twice a week. Only 13% met the 5-aday recommendation in 2013 and this figure has not changed significantly over the past 10 years. However, 75% of children were active for the recommended level of 60 minutes every day (including school-based activities) which has increased from 71% from 2008.
