Search

Objectives. To estimate the association between rates of police-related deaths and neighborhood residential segregation (by income, race/ethnicity, or both combined) in the United States. Methods. We identified police-related deaths that occurred in the United States (2015–2016) using a data set from the Guardian newspaper. We used census data to estimate expected police-related death counts for all US census tracts and to calculate the Index of Concentration at the Extremes as a segregation measure. We used multilevel negative binomial models for the analyses. Results. Overall, police-related death rates were highest in neighborhoods with the greatest concentrations of low-income residents (vs high-income residents) and residents of color (vs non-Hispanic White residents). For non-Hispanic Blacks, however, the risk was greater in the quintile of neighborhoods with the highest concentration of non-Hispanic White residents than in certain neighborhoods with relatively higher concentrations of residents of color (the third and fourth quintiles). Conclusions. Neighborhood context matters—beyond individual race/ethnicity—for understanding, preventing, and responding to the occurrence of police-related deaths. Public Health Implications. Efforts to monitor, prevent, and respond to police-related deaths should consider neighborhood context, including levels of segregation by income and race/ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. We examined the effects of market income inequality (income inequality before taxes and transfers) and income redistribution via taxes and transfers on inequality in longevity. Methods. We used life tables to compute Gini coefficients of longevity inequality for all individuals and for individuals who survived to at least 10 years of age. We regressed longevity inequality on market income inequality and income redistribution, and we controlled for potential confounders, in a cross-sectional time-series sample of up to 28 predominantly Western developed countries and up to 37 years (1974-2011). Results. Income inequality before taxes and transfers was positively associated with inequality in the number of years lived; income redistribution (the difference between market income inequality and income inequality after taxes and transfers were accounted for) was negatively associated with longevity inequality. Conclusions. To the extent that our estimated effects derived from observational data are causal, governments can reduce longevity inequality not only via public health policies, but also via their influence on market income inequality and the redistribution of incomes from the relatively rich to the relatively poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. We sought to update income-specific secular trends in obesity in Brazil to assess the hypothesis that the disease burden is shifting toward the poor. Methods. We compared overall and income-specific obesity prevalence rates estimated for Brazilian men and women from national surveys conducted in 1975, 1989, and 2003. We calculated age-adjusted prevalence ratios to assess time trends. Results. In the first 14-year period examined (1975-1989), obesity rates among men and women increased by 92% and 63%, respectively, and increases were relatively higher among individuals in lower income groups. In the second 14-year period (1989-2003), there were further increases in obesity among men, and again increases were larger among the poor. In this second period, the obesity rate remained virtually stable in the overall female population, but it increased by 26% among women in the 2 lower income quintiles and decreased by 10% among women in the 3 higher income quintiles. Conclusions. The burden of obesity is shifting toward the poor and can no longer be considered a disease of the socioeconomic elite. Policymakers need to design policy and programs that reach all members of society, but especially the poor. (Am J Public Health. 2007;97:1808-1812. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2006.099630) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]