Studies show that there is an association between neighborhood environments and health outcomes.1 Canton City Public Health plans to address disparties in health outcomes by addressing these environmental factors. Some factors in Canton include:

• In Canton’s poorest neighborhoods over 70% of households live in poverty (link)
• Over 6% of families are working poor, exceeding the national average by 33% (link)
• Vacant homes account for 14% of properties while 40% of residents are rent burdened (link)
• The number of SNAP and WIC authorized grocery stores has declined by 10% and access to fast food choices has increased by the same amount (link)
• SNAP redemptions have decreased by 41%, benefits have decreased by 40% and program participation has decreased by 3% (link)

1 - National Research Council (US) Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life; Anderson NB, Bulatao RA, Cohen B, editors. Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2004. 11, What Makes a Place Healthy? Neighborhood Influences on Racial/ Ethnic Disparities in Health over the Life Course. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK25534/