p«iooopop«u«on 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 IS X6 17 18 



New York 



Philadelphia 



Baltimore 



St. Xouis 



Washington, D. C. 



New Orleans 



Cincinnati 



Newark 



Kansas City, Mo. 



Louisville 



Atlanta 



THE RELATION OF HEALTH TO POSITION IN THE COMMUNITY 



The preponderance of sickness among the underprivileged shows itself in excessive 

 death rates among the colored population. In ten cities having 10 per cent or more 

 of Negro population, the general death rate among colored persons is consistently 

 higher than among white persons 



ness rates and death rates on the other. Endless investigations have shown 

 that death rates are considerably higher among the poor than among the 

 comfortable; infant death rates are higher among the poor; tuberculosis ill- 

 ness rates and death rates are higher among the poor; the frequency and 

 severity of illness have been uniformly higher among relief and marginal- 

 income families than among others. 



Poverty is associated with sickness because being poor means being unable 

 to get adequate food. It means unsuitable housing — crowded, too cold or too 

 hot, poorly lighted and poorly ventilated, too damp or too dry, lacking in 

 sanitary facilities, and hard to keep clean. Poverty usually means overwork, 

 both at home and on the job. Poverty usually means anxiety, worry, and an 

 excess of irritation. 



Sickness and Ignorance Although the poor suffer more from various 

 diseases than the well-to-do, there is among the families of the well-to-do a 

 great deal of preventable illness due to ignorance. Men and women with 

 many years of schooling are not expected to manage an airplane or a poultry 

 farm on the basis of the history they studied; neither can they keep well 

 with their history or languages. 



All of us, rich as well as poor, could get better value for what we spend on 

 food, for example, if we knew more. Malnutrition is partly a matter of in- 



608 



