Socio-Economic Status and Health

Running head: SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND HEALTH
SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND HEALTH
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SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND HEALTH
The assignment is based on the impacts of one of social determinants of health called
poor socioeconomic status on the health and well-being of individuals in different communities.
Social determinants of health can be described as conditions in the environment in which the
people are born, work, play, live, learn, worship as well as age. These conditions are seen to
affect a wide range of health as well as functioning and quality-of-life outcome and risks. The
social determinants of health have been described in studies as multifaceted circumstances in
which people are born and live and these circumstances can affect their health (Glymour,
Avendano & kawachi, 2014). These are seen to include various tangible factors that include
political, and even the socioeconomic and different cultural constructs. It may also cover
different place-based conditions. The place-based conditions include available healthcare and
teaching systems, safe environmental situation, well planned neighborhoods and availability of
organic food (Erreygers & Kessels, 2017). One of the most important social determinants of
health that has huge impact on the health and well-being of individuals is the socio-economic
class to which they belong. The main themes that would be covered in the essay are impacts of
socioeconomic status on education achievement, income, employment, aspect of alcohol
drinking which can indirectly affect health. Other themes are the impacts of poor socioeconomic
class can result in alcohol drinking and tobacco disorder, depression and anxiety and many
others.
The socioeconomic status is closedly associated with health conditions and the quality of
life of the individuals living in a community. Socioeconomic status can encompass not only
income but also the educational attainment, financial security and even the subjective
perceptions of the social class and the social status. Studies have also supported that
socioeconomic status can also encompass quality of life attributes and even the opportunities and

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SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND HEALTH
privileges that are afforded by people within the society. Moreover, studies have stated that
socioeconomic status is indeed a consistent and a reliable predictor for a vast array of health
outcomes across the life spans. This includes both psychological and physical health. Therefore,
its impacts on health outcomes need to be analyzed by healthcare professionals so that proper
interventions and strategies can be adopted to treat their disorders and poor living conditions.
People from lower socioeconomic classes are seen to be associated with low income,
lower educational status as well as poor living conditions, housing and sanitation. These are seen
to have negative outcomes on both physical health as well as mental health. People with poor
socioeconomic statuscannot afford to complete their higher levels of education and therefore
often seen to lack proper healthcare knowledge (Elsayed et al., 2018). Therefore, they adopt
healthcare and food habits that affect their health and make them suffer. Higher socioeconomic
status is seen to be correlated with better educational achievements and hence better food and
health habits (Cundiff et al., 2015). Therefore, improper health outcomes can be associated
directly with lower educational qualification and indirectly with lower socioeconomic status.
People with low socio-economic status have lower financial security and lower
income. Hence they cannot afford many important components, which are significant for living
safe and higher quality life. As they have low income, they are often seen to be capable of
buying foods which are inexpensive and calorie dense. Such foodincrease their chances of being
affected by obesity and many other associated disorders like diabetes and others. They cannot
afford organic foods that are costlier but health and nutrient rich (Nobel et al., 2017). Hence,
low-income issue faced by the low socioeconomic class of people makes them more susceptible
to develop various chronic ailments. Studies have found people living with poverty have
significantly higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disorders, when compared people of the