In Britain lifestyle choices can be blamed for ill-health

There is no doubt that lifestyle choices can be blamed for ill-health. While the government continues
to increase spending on the NHS Britain continues to experience a range of problems that are
underpinned by poor lifestyle choices for example smoking, drinking and diet ; smoking, over half of
lifelong smokers dies from their habit from cancer heart disease etc. Drinking, believed to have
caused around half a million deaths from cancer in 2012.Diet, is now the number one factor driving
poor health survey shows. However many of these statistics can be linked to their standard of living
as poverty is a large factor that influences people to make these bad lifestyle choices. Numerous
government reports such as the Black report, Acheson Report and more recently the Audit Scotland
Health Inequalities Report all which suggest that a persons income is an important factor in
determining a person’s health.

The Black Report concluded that inequalities in health could be traced from childhood and continued
into adulthood, the report was backed up by the Acheson report of 1998. These reports were
dismissed by the conservative government at the time, the first repots was commissioned by the
Labour government and despite the evidence contained in the Black Report the Conservative
government rejected the link and argued that poor health was because of peoples freedom to make
lifestyle choices. The Audit Scotland report of 2012 again supported the notion that a persons health
is closely linked to their income and provided a wealth of evidence to show this. Essentially all these
reports concluded that the wealthier you are, the healthier you are and the poorer you are the
earlier you are likely to die. Statistics show that alcohol related admissions are higher in deprived
areas 1,621 vs 214 in affluent areas, consultations of anxiety per 1,000 again deprived areas have
higher rates of 62 vs 28 in affluent areas.

IN addition, a persons occupation while linked to income can also be blamed for ill-health.
Occupations can have a great impact on life expectancy as statistics show that those who work in a
‘professional industry’ high end jobs such as a Lawyer, Doctor etc live 3 years longer that unskilled
occupation and unemployment who lose up to 4 years creating a difference of 7 years. Occupations
can alos have a direct impact on your health for example manual jobs such as builders, plumbers etc
are more likely to suffer from arthritis due to work in cold damp conditions.

Furthermore it is evident that geography is a factor which can also be blamed for ill-health. There
are 3 reports which exist to support this statement; The CACE Report 20016, The WHO Report,3
Cities Report 2016.IN terms of the divide of countries in Britain there is a clear gap in life expectancy
between Scotland and England with Scotland have an average of 75 years 3 years lower than that of
England thus divide is further explained due the socio-economic differences as the top 10
unhealthiest cities exist in Scotland while the top 10 healthiest exist in England. Within cities
themselves a clear divide exists for example in Colton Glasgow the life expectancy is 54 years while
Lenzie in Glasgow has a expectancy of 84 years this highlights the geographical divide within
Glasgow showing the impact of geography and health.

It can be concluded that lifestyle choices like bad diet, alcohol abuse etc are linked to income,
geography and occupation all have a part to play in determining our ill-health due to the evidence
from several reports and statistics. However poverty can be considered the biggest influential factor
as it can determine where you live affluent or deprived area, what your job is and the probability of
you drinking excessively, having a bad diet etc.
It is also the case that the government has worked hard to improve people’s health through various
health campaigns and legislative measures, but many continue to make poor lifestyle choices .For
example, while there has been a decrease in the number of adults smoking figures still remain higher
than many of our European counterparts. In 2016 of all adult survey respondents in the UK, 15.8%
smoked which equates to around 7.6 million in the population. The government has done much to
aid the decrease in smoking levels implementing many bans; bans on smoking in public areas, cars
with childrens, on hospital grounds. The government has also increased tax on a typical pack of 20
cigarettes the total tax equates to £6.98 accounting for 82% of the recommended retail price (RRP)
of £8.50. These factors all influenced the steady decrease of smoking as ASH statistics show a
downward trend which match the timing of the legislation in place for example the packaging of
cigarettes lead to a decrease of approximately 3 %.

However, the reasons why many people choose to smoke is not as simple as it seems. For example
many smokers form deprived communities often smoke as a way of escaping and dealing with the
stresses of living in poverty. In Britain’s affluent areas the average if those who smoke is 11% while
in deprived areas it is almost 4 times that at 40%. Another point is the price of cigarettes as they can
cost a approximate average of £10, this is expensive especially for those who live in poverty the idea
that people buy them shows it is not just a luxury they feel as though they need it to deal with the
troubles they face living in poverty as 88% of those who smoked in a study of 300,000 Britons ,
smoke due to stress CEBR statistics show. Henry Burns a former medical officer also spoke about
how causes of poor health can be linked to lack of community, isolation and the feeling of being left
behind supporting the notion of people making certain lifestyle choices due to standard of living.

This is also the case when alcohol consumption rates are examined where poverty and drinking line
as statistics show that alcohol related admissions are higher in deprived areas 1,621 vs 214 in
affluent areas showing alcohol consumption rates increase with poverty levels. This again link to the
idea of what causes people to smoke relating to Burns’s belief that many use it as an escape from
their socio-economic problems.

Furthermore some groups have very little choice when it comes to lifestyle choices, Children for
example rely on their parent to provide for them. Families which are poorer their children tend to
experience higher rates of obesity, dental health, and ill-health in general this is backed up by
statistics for example obesity in England’s most deprived areas, 40% of children were overweight or
obese in the last year, compared to 27% in the most affluent. This theme can continue into their
adul hood as a gene dubbed the stress gene is triggered in babies who live in bad environments eg
neglectful parents this ‘stress gene’ impacts the babies mental health and continues to add undue
stress into their later lives. Essentially a child brought up in poverty is more likely to stay in poverty
this also concerns the fact that they will face ill-health throughout there life.It can also be said that
parents also form a sort of role model for children they tend to reflect their parents, studies also
back this up as Dr Mark Neilsen studies show that ‘a child copies everything an adult does, even
irrelevant or silly actions’ eg if they see their mother drink excessively their children are more likely
to do the same heavily influencing their lifestyle choices.

Lifestyle choices are still evident to blame for ill-heath in some people as some choose to drink,
smoke .However the choice to do so can de a result of their upbringing/environment some smoke
drink to escape their social-economic troubles others have no choice-children.
Finally genetics can also be blamed for ill-health. Genetics are something which are out of our
control, something which we have no choice over. Genetics can cause us to disadvantaged as some
people may be more likely to be lazy than others this is liked to a gene dubbed ’coach potatoe gene’
which is slightly different from others those who have this gene are unlikely to be motivated or want

to exercise while those who do, do so because they ‘crave’ it as it releases dopamine related to their
gene. This can affect peoples lifestyle choice to be active or not. Genetics can also make some
people more susceptible to certain health conditions such as cancer inherited mutations in the
BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome, which
is a disorder marked by an increased lifetime risk of breast and ovarian cancers in women.

Furthermore a persons race and gender it could be argued contribute towards ill-health. A persons
ill-health can make them more susceptible to certain health conditions for example Africans are
more likely to face high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes and prostate cancer. This shows
how a person is unable to control whether they face ill-health or not it is out with their control the
same can be applied for gender an ill health where statistics show that females live longer than
males with an average of 4-5 years longer. While women live longer they experience more ill-health
in their lifetime as well with higher rates of strokes, diabetes and respiratory disease. However this
can be justified because women live longer this also means that their bodies deteriorate more and
consequently leaves women more susceptible to illnesses.

Overall ill-health cannot be completely be blamed on lifestyle choices as some people are more
susceptible to ill health from choices out with their hands such as genetics, gender, poverty and
children as they are dependent on their parents. However freedom of choice exists and it is upto the
public to a certain extent to decide to start or stop drinking, smoking etc. In terms of the lazy gene
and race this can be fought by lifestyle choices made for example in terms of the lazy gene although
it may make it harder you can still ‘fight’ the gene.