China's huge poverty gap slowing growth, UN says - The Guardian 17th November 2008
The gulf between rich and poor in China is affecting growth by deterring consumption and holding down productivity, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme.
It tracks the vast and increasing gaps between rural and urban areas and regions of China - warning that differences in income are matched by disparities in social welfare, education and elderly care.
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Life expectancy gap still widening - The Times 17th November 2008
The Government is failing to close the gap in life expectancy between people who live in the most deprived parts of England and the rest of the country.
Ministers set a target in 2004 to address geographical inequalities in life expectancy, cancer, heart disease, stroke and related diseases. Success is monitored by comparing the progress of England as a whole with equivalent progress of the Spearhead Group of 70 local authority areas in the bottom fifth for factors including life expectancy at birth and cancer mortality rates.
more fromwww.timesonline.co.uk
Park life: Why living in a green area improves your health - Daily Mail 7th November 2008
Living near parks and forests improves your health and lengthens your life, according to new research published today.
Scientists also found the health gap between rich and poor was narrower in greener areas.
Lead author Richard Mitchell from Glasgow University said their findings showed the impact of green spaces was bigger than once thought.
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Green spaces 'reduce health gap' - BBC Health News 7th November 2008
A bit of greenery near our homes can cut the "health gap" between rich and poor, say researchers from two Scottish universities.
Even small parks in the heart of our cities can protect us from strokes and heart disease, perhaps by cutting stress or boosting exercise.
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Green spaces promote good health and a longer life, says study - The Guardian 7th November 2008
Living in a green area can lengthen your life, according to research published today which shows that the difference in life expectancy between rich and poor shrinks among those who live in an environment with parks and trees.
Richard Mitchell, from Glasgow University, and his colleagues, found that the gap between the numbers of deaths of people on high incomes and the numbers of deaths of those on low incomes in green areas was half that compared with figures relating to built-up areas.
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Life near a city park can be as healthy as out in the country - The Independent 7th October 2008
Green space can cut health problems linked to poverty. The links between serious illnesses and poverty are well established, but this is the first time scientists have systematically shown that the health gap between rich and poor can be halved with the help of green spaces. The links between serious illnesses and poverty are well established, but this is the first time scientists have systematically shown that the health gap between rich and poor can be halved with the help of green spaces. Proof at last: living near parks and woodland boosts health, regardless of social class. Access to green spaces, whether they be rolling chalk downs or simple playing fields, has an independently beneficial impact on health and health-related behaviour which counteracts the effects of poverty and inner-city deprivation, the research by scientists found.
more fromwww.independent.co.uk
Government programme which helps children of poor families appears to be succeeding - The Guardian 7th October 2008
The government's Sure Start programme appears to be succeeding in its aim of improving the chances of children born into deprived families, the latest evaluation shows today.
The ambitious programme, launched in 1999, supports parents in the poorest communities and tries to intervene to overcome the disadvantages their babies experience from birth. Children from deprived backgrounds generally suffer from worse health, do less well at school and are more likely to end up involved in crime than children from more affluent neighbourhoods.
more fromwww.guardian.co.uk
Revamp of 'failing' health plans - BBC Health News 7th November 2008
Ministers are preparing to completely revamp their strategy to tackle health inequalities in what is being interpreted as an admission of failure.\n\nThe Department of Health has asked World Health Organization expert Sir Michael Marmot do the groundwork for a new approach for England.
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I'll find a minister for healthy eating, says Jamie Oliver - The Independent 6th November 2008
Britain needs a dedicated minister for food to prevent an obesity "horror show" from enveloping the country, Jamie Oliver has warned MPs.
While he would be "touched" to be offered the job, the celebrity chef said, he would not take it but would act as a headhunter for the Government.
more fromwww.independent.co.uk
Jamie Oliver calls on MPs to cut the number of fast food outlets - Daily Mail 5th November 2008
Jamie Oliver has called for a limit on fast food outlets.
And the TV chef warned that Britain was facing a 'new kind of poverty' that increased the consumption of unhealthy food.
Giving evidence to a parliamentary health inquiry, he said the country had just ten years to turn around an obesity 'horror show'.
more fromwww.dailymail.co.uk
Oliver warns over unhealthy diets - BBC Health News 5th November 2008
The economic downturn could lead to people eating more unhealthy food, TV chef Jamie Oliver says.
He told the House of Commons Health Committee for the first time in British history large numbers of people simply could not cook.
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The day Jamie Oliver got a grilling - BBC Health News 5th November 2008
No-one could accuse the MPs on the health committee of being star-struck. Well, at least not until they had finished quizzing TV chef Jamie Oliver.
At the start of the evidence session on health inequalities, the politicians kept Mr Oliver waiting outside with the hordes of journalists covering the event.
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Strict new benefit rules 'will drive mentally-ill people into poverty' - The Independent 27th October 2008
People with mental health problems will be driven into poverty by the introduction of a new benefit today, campaigners have warned.
Around half of applicants for the employment and support allowance are expected to be rejected because of much stricter rules, forcing thousands of people with mental health problems on to the much less generous job-seekers allowance, or into jobs they are unable to cope with and which could lead to a relapse in their conditions.
more fromwww.independent.co.uk
North-West in poverty crisis - Liverpool Echo 25th October 2008
AROUND half a million children across the North-West live below the poverty line, the government has admitted.
The broad total is the highest of any part of the UK outside London and is unchanged since 2000, when it fell from 600,000.
more fromwww.liverpoolecho.co.uk
Cost of child poverty is at least £25bn a year - The Guardian 23rd October 2008
Child poverty is costing Britain at least £25bn a year, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals today.
Researchers have found that the government spends £12bn a year on services to remedy consequences of childhood deprivation such as poor health, low educational attainment, crime and antisocial behaviour.
more fromwww.guardian.co.uk
Wealth gap creating a social time bomb - The Guardian 23rd October 2008
Growing inequality in US cities could lead to widespread social unrest and increased mortality, says a new United Nations report on the urban environment.
In a survey of 120 major cities New York was found to be the ninth most unequal in the world and Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington, and Miami had similar inequality levels to those of Nairobi, Kenya and Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Many were above an internationally recognised acceptable "alert" line used to warn governments.
more fromwww.guardian.co.uk
Michael White's political briefing: The long battle against poverty is not over - The Guardian 22nd October 2008
News that a respected international analyst like the OECD had reported that inequality and poverty "fell faster in the UK" than in any comparable country in the first half of the decade briefly led BBC news bulletins yesterday before being blown away by August high jinks on Corfu.
more fromwww.guardian.co.uk
UK poorest 'living shorter lives'- BBC Health News 20th October 2008
Britons who live in affluent areas live up to 14 years longer than those in poorer ones, research has suggested.
The average age of death varied between 66 in Easterhouse, Glasgow, and 80 in Eastbourne, Sussex, the Universities of Bristol and Sheffield found.
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The 'Atlas of Death' that shows how living in an affluent area could prolong your life by 14 years - Daily Mail 19th October 2008
An "atlas of death", charting geographical patterns of mortality rates around the UK, has been drawn up by researchers.
It found the average age of death varied between 66 years in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow and 80 in Eastbourne, Sussex.
more fromwww.dailymail.co.uk
Warning over health inequalities - BBC Health News 14th October 2008
Life expectancy between the world's richest and poorest countries can vary by more than 40 years, a report shows.
The World Health Organization examined primary health care systems around the world, and uncovered huge inequalities and inefficiencies.
more fromnews.bbc.co.uk
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