Poverty in America has very specific factors that more affluent communities don?t have to overcome to achieve health. This lengthy NY Times article reviews many of those factors such as there are three times as many bars in poor neighborhoods as in rich ones, and four times as many supermarkets in white neighborhoods as in black ones. There are fewer parks in poor neighborhoods as well, so it is more difficult to find open spaces in which to exercise, and many of them are dangerous.
New York Times October 12, 2003