[Recap: LBO discussed the claim that health in NYC (under Bloomberg in particular) has not only improved but was "pulling away" from the rest of the country. It was asserted, inter aelia, that the poor had benefited from having their neighborhoods gentrified, that they suddenly walked more, etc.
I pointed out that ALL the epidemiological studies (AFAIK), backed by the official statistics from the NYC Dept of Health and the census bureau find that there is NO such unique improvement -- just a demographic shift in the "New, New York" which is too often overlooked (even though the NY Times and the Census Bureau have been reporting it prominently). The response to my effort to focus on data was...not enthusiastic.]
We now have - yet another - article from the NY Times. Pointed and running half a page it refutes the claim of special health progress for the poor in NYC, drawing on a report using official statistics.
>Gap in Illness Rates Between Rich and Poor New Yorkers Is Widening, Study
>Shows
>The gap between the health of New Yorkers living in poverty and those with
>higher incomes has *WIDENED* since the early 1990s, according to a survey
>released yesterday. It found that residents of poor neighborhoods in the
>city are experiencing alarming rates of diabetes and steady increases in
>other chronic illnesses like heart disease, while other residents have
>seen slower increases or even declines.
[emphasis mine] .....
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/nyregion/28gap.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin
Paul