People with higher levels of qualification tend to exercise more, have a more nutritious and healthy diet and smoke less. Children from low-income households tend to leave full-time education much earlier and with fewer qualifications. Whilst 24% of all children born in 1970 failed to achieve O-levels, 38% of children from low-income households achieved no formal qualifications at all. .
Environmental factors such as where a person lives can also influence a person's mental well being. Living in a inner city environment where pollution from noise, fumes and light can affect health, on the other hand, the isolation of rural living, the inaccessibility to local services and amenities, (e.g. transport, work, shops) can be equally as detrimental. The quality of the housing (e.g. insulated, dry, safe from hazards) are all important for good physical and mental well being. Winter Deaths are almost three times higher in the coldest quarter of housing than in the warmest quarter. Children living in cold homes are more than twice as likely to suffer from a variety of respiratory problems than children living in warm homes. One in four adolescents living in cold homes is at risk of multiple .
Lifestyle factors can also affect health, areas that witness high levels of unemployment often have higher prevalences of people drinking heavily and smoking. Since smoking increases the risk of heart attacks, it is expected that unemployed people are more likely to suffer from heart disease. Furthermore, a low income can limit a family's choice in regards to their choosing of healthy food. As a result, low income families often consume too much sugar and carbohydrates. In such situations, junk food becomes typically consumed and is often combined with sedentary lifestyles (extended periods of sitting and watching TV). All of these factors result in a higher rate of obesity. It is a recognized fact that poverty has an inter-relationship/ links between socioeconomic, genetic, biological, environmental and lifestyle factors in causing illness.
