Coastal areas in Kent more at risk of health conditions
In their latest report, Kent Public Health Observatory released a report of which showed figures on where in Kent was the most at risk of health conditions.
When compared to non-coastal towns in Kent, coastal areas had a 60% higher rate of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
And coastal areas had a 14% increase in asthma when compared to non-coastal areas as the lowest increase recorded in health-related issues.
Smoking and obesity were included as they add as a risk factor for other possible health conditions, including a few already included on the list (such as COPD).
Ramsgate in Thanet has reportedly the highest recorded cases of COPD out of all Coastal towns that were included in the statistics, with Margate coming second compared to other coastal towns.
Ramsgate had a 71% increase in cases when compared to Non-Coastal towns, while Margate had an increase of 58%.
What can be gathered from these statistics and increases in health conditions when compared to the non-coastal towns, is that coastal areas seem to have a higher risk of health conditions and life altering conditions.
However, there is a chance that COPD cases are so high in these coastal towns due to already existing COPD patients moving to coastal towns due to the cleaner seaside air.
But even ruling out COPD, other health conditions do seem to spike when we look at coastal towns.
But this increase in health issues does not stop at these listed health conditions.
According to the Health statistics findings, coastal areas tend to also have higher mortality rates for ages under 75.
Coastal areas have 112.4% of the deaths of under 75’s compared to other areas of England, this meaning that 12.4% more under 75’s have died in coastal areas in Kent compared to other areas in England.
This yet again is more than the non-coastal towns, that have 89.4% when compared to the total deaths of under 75’s in other areas of England.
Coastal areas also have a higher cancer mortality rate when compared to non-coastal areas, with a 113.5% mortality rate when compared to other English cities, which is 16.78% higher than non-coastal towns.
Margate seems to have the most cancer moralities when compared to other towns but, there are also more doctor surgeries and medical centres based around Margate.
Coastal areas also have 2049 people per 10,000 in Kent admitted for alcohol related problems and 538 people aged 10-24 per 10,000 admitted for self-harm related issues.
These are also much higher than non-coastal areas, where they have 1869 people per 10,000 in their population admitted for alcohol related issues and 429 people aged between 10-24 per 10,000 admitted for self-harm related issues.
Overall, when we compare these two areas, we can see that coastal areas seem much more at risk of health conditions, but due to how broad these areas are, it would be unfair to pass the blame onto the whole areas.
For example, we cannot pinpoint how many people in Cliftonville may be Obese from these statistics as Cliftonville is under the umbrella of Margate, meaning a lot of these health conditions may be due to another area.
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