Neighborhoods and health.
Features of neighborhoods or residential environments may affect health and contribute to social and race/ethnic inequalities in health. The study of neighborhood health effects has grown exponentially over the past 15 years. This chapter summarizes key work in this area with a particular focus on chronic disease outcomes (specifically obesity and related risk factors) and mental health (specifically depression and depressive symptoms). Empirical work is classified into two main eras: studies that use census proxies and studies that directly measure neighborhood attributes using a variety of approaches. Key conceptual and methodological challenges in studying neighborhood health effects are reviewed. Existing gaps in knowledge and promising new directions in the field are highlighted.
Diez Roux
Ana V
AV
Epidemiology, Center for Integrative Approaches to Health Disparities, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48019-2029, USA. adiezrou@umich.edu
Mair
Christina
C
D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment