Soho The Unhealthiest Place In Britain Scientists Say

Isn’t this a surprise, the red light district is the unhealthiest place in the country?

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Soho is Britain’s unhealthiest place to live, study finds[/perfectpullquote]

Except our definition here is very much more stupid than that.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The central London area had the greatest access to takeaways, pubs and off-licences, combined with high levels of air pollution and low levels of parks and green spaces, the research found.[/perfectpullquote]

The pollution, well, in a big city, yes, and obviously. And the lack of parks, well, it’s just off the most expensive piece of the whole country, so people will tend to build upon it, not just leave it green and open. But note that third bit of why it’s so unhealthy.

Yup, the place we put all the restaurants and pubs, so as to have a thriving nightlife centre, is unhealthy because that’s where we’ve put all the restaurants and pubs. This isn’t a sensible nor useful set of definitions of whether a place is healthy or not, is it?

And yes, it gets worse:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Researchers analysed a range of lifestyle and environmental measures including levels of air pollution, access to amenities such as fast-food outlets or pubs, and proximity to health services including GPs, in addition to parks and recreational spaces. Dr Mark Green, a senior lecturer in health geography who undertook the study, said: “Our research, in conjunction with the Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC) and Public Health England, has allowed us to pull together freely available information from sources such as GP surgeries, health centres, fast-food outlets, air pollution statistics published by the Environment Agency. [/perfectpullquote] [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The statistics reveal important insights about the concentration of certain amenities that may be damaging or promote health. For example, on average, individuals in Great Britain are just as close to a pub or bar as they are to their nearest GP, 1.1 km [0.68 miles].[/perfectpullquote]

Well, yes, obviously. There are 7,000 GP surgeries in England and 50,000 pubs in the UK. Sure, different geography but still. And there was a time when geography students would have known enough about pubs to immediately get this. Of course, the idea that a surgery has a catchment of perhaps 5,000 people while a pub tries to live off many fewer. And that people might only go to a GP once a year while the pub hopes to see you a few times a week…..no, that’s too complex, obviously, for the Theresa Mays of this world who do geography.

But seriously, no one is dingbat enough to worry about the pubs and doctors thing, are they?

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]These statistics reveal troubling issues with the neighbourhoods we live in and how they may be damaging to our health.[/perfectpullquote]

Oh. So, that expansion of the universities was a waste of money then, wasn’t it?