Health of poor an urgent case as Leung prepares policy address
Study linking poverty to high blood pressure and other medical issues highlights need for chief executive to focus on problem in policy address
Pressure is mounting on the chief executive to make poverty alleviation a focus of his maiden policy address this month, with new research setting out in stark detail how being poor affects health and family life.
Hong Kong's poor suffer a host of health problems, are the unhappiest people in the city and grapple with more family woes than wealthier residents, according to a study conducted by the University of Hong Kong's school of public health between March 2009 and March 2011.
It covered about 20,500 people in 8,400 households.
The study showed a linear relationship between blood pressure and income. The poor were inclined to suffer from high blood pressure, the No 1 chronic disease around the world.
Workers who made less than HK$3,000 a month recorded blood pressure of between 81 and 140 millimetres of mercury (mmHg), while those who earned more than HK$60,000 a month had a range of 78 to 122 mmHg.
This linear relationship also appeared in workers' self-assessments of bodily health, happiness and family harmony. But the researchers noted that even if a person was poor, harmonious family relationships could alleviate negative emotions.