August 22, 2006 – Certain Montreal neighborhoods whose residents are in poorer health than the national average are also those where there is the least infrastructure conducive to physical activity. This is what two geographers from McGill University in Montreal say.1.
The two researchers, Stephanie Coen and Nancy Ross, were particularly interested in the quality of parks in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and in Saint-Henri, two disadvantaged neighborhoods in Montreal. There are more cases of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease there, in addition to reduced life expectancy in men.
Other middle-class neighborhoods were also studied (Ahuntsic and Rosemont) as well as two other better-off (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Westmount). In the latter, the incidence of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease is lower than average and the life expectancy of men is longer.
Stephanie Coen and Nancy Ross found that parks in poorer neighborhoods tend to have lower quality infrastructure. Characterized by the presence of graffiti or the absence of lighting, these facilities seem less secure. Their locations are also less attractive: near abandoned buildings or industrial sites.
Parks are more user-friendly in the other four neighborhoods, according to the study’s authors. They point out, however, that there are even disparities within a neighborhood, or even within a park.
“We were surprised by our results since parks are a government funded resource,” says Stephanie Coen. But even this public funding cannot erase the inequalities between neighborhoods. “
In the end, the geographers write in their study, residents of the poorest neighborhoods have less access than others to infrastructure conducive to physical activity. More investment is needed, they say, to promote health.
The results of this research are published in the journal Health Place.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
1. Coen SE, Ross NA. Exploring the material basis for health: characteristics of parks in Montreal neighborhoods with contrasting health outcomes. Health Place. 2006 Dec; 12 (4): 361-71.
