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Housing tenure, body mass index and health in Australia

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 22:36 authored by Bruce TranterBruce Tranter, Jed DonoghueJed Donoghue
A national survey of Australian adults shows higher levels of obesity among public housing tenants and home owners with a mortgage compared to outright home owners. These results are to an extent due to higher instances of illness and disability among public housing tenants, and are also associated with known health risk factors. Yet differences in body mass index between tenures persist after controlling for a range of risk factors and socio-demographic indicators, suggesting the presence of cultural differences and different consumption patterns. Public tenants are by far the most likely to smoke on a daily basis, with private renters and home owners with a mortgage also more likely to be smokers than are outright home owners. Further investigation is required to establish the nature and extent that patterned health inequalities and associated risk factors are linked to housing tenure. If Australian mortgagees are more likely than outright homeowners to be obese, as our findings indicate, pursuing the ‘Australian dream’ of home-ownership may contain a hidden cost to one's health.

History

Publication title

International Journal of Housing Policy

Volume

17

Issue

4

Pagination

469-488

ISSN

1949-1247

Department/School

School of Social Sciences

Publisher

Routledge

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Social class and inequalities

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