Introduction

The previous chapters highlighted the connections between crime, anti-social behaviour and poor conditions. We showed how young people's positive development was hampered by the lack of safe, useable outdoor space to exercise, play and do sport in. Area conditions shape family development, create social pressures and in seriously deprived areas, can damage health. This chapter explores the health of the 200 families, and investigates their experiences of local health services. It examines the links between the families’ health and area conditions, particularly the impact of wider problems on mental health. It explores some of the common health problems affecting families across income boundaries as well as highlighting problems that are made worse by poor conditions and lack of resources.

We do not fully understand how environment influences our personal health, but we do know that life expectancy is lower in poorer areas and that the incidence of many serious conditions is higher. Poor environments also affect our sense of well-being and make it harder to live a healthy lifestyle. Exercise, green space and fresh food are commonly harder to find in poorer than in richer areas. Children need outdoor space, unpolluted environments, good diets and a sense of security, but parents’ mental health suffers particularly when they see their families surrounded by poor social and environmental conditions. Many studies have shown that neglected, decayed environments have a serious impact on family health and well-being.