Americans attribute a number of social, economic and environmental factors and lifetime experiences as having a considerable impact on an individual's health, according to a report from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
In addition to access to medical care and dieting, Americans polled perceived the following childhood and adult experiences as having an effect on their personal health.
American perceptions on how childhood experiences impact health
- Nearly 40 percent of Americans report that they had one or more childhood experiences that they believe have had a harmful effect on their health later in life.
- Out of a list of 11 childhood experiences, the Americans polled ranked the following five experiences as having the most harmful effect on their health as adults:
- The death or serious illness of a family member or close friend — 18 percent
- Having a serious physical injury or accident — 13 percent
- Growing up in a low-income household — 11 percent
- Parents getting divorced, separated, or breaking up — 11 percent
- A parent or other close family member losing a job — 10 percent
- The groups most likely to report having had one or more negative experiences in childhood that they believe had a harmful effect on their later health include those who say they are in fair or poor health currently (65 percent) and those with household incomes of less than $25,000 a year (51 percent).
American perceptions on how experiences in adulthood impact health
- Similar to childhood experiences, 38 percent of Americans report that they have had one or more experiences as adults that they believe have had a harmful effect on their health later in life.
- Out of a list of 13 experiences as adults, the Americans polled ranked the following five experiences as having the most harmful effect on their health as adults:
- Not having a job that pays well or being unemployed — 19 percent
- Living in an area with air, water or chemical pollution — 11 percent
- Not being able to get affordable housing — 11 percent
- Problems getting quality medical care from a physician or hospital — 10 percent
- Living in a low-income area without access to resources available in other areas — 10 percent
- Additionally, roughly 21 percent of African Americans polled report having experienced racial or ethnic discrimination in adulthood that they believe has had a harmful effect on their health and 17 percent of Hispanics report that the adulthood experience of living in a low-income area without the resources of other communities has had a harmful effect on their health.
The poll was conducted via telephone between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, 2014 and includes a nationally representative sample of more than 2,400 respondents age 18 and older.
To read the full report, click here.