Poverty as a cause of ill-health

Abstract

In Lurgan, Co. Armagh, where I practise, there is an excessive amount of sickness, and few people show really good health. By good health, I mean not merely the avoidance of disease, but the attainment and maintenance of physical and mental well-being. This ill-health is of an indeterminate nature and is not reflected in the vital statistics of the town. It is shown by poor physique, a diminished resistance to minor diseases, and an inability to recover from illness in a reasonable time. To find out, if I could, the factors responsible, I decided to carry out a survey. It was to extend over three years, and was to include samples of men, women and children. I also intended to carry out a series of "family budget" estimations on a selected group of families. The first sample of adult male linen weavers was examined in the spring of 1938, and the results were published in the British Medical Journal. Last year in spring a number of women employed in the linen trade were examined, and it is with the results of this work that we are at present concerned. I intended to conclude the enterprise by examining a group of children this spring, but the war has prevented my completing the work.