Economic Recession Can be Good for Your Health

The current recession has brought out many recession-themed research reports — recession can spur innovation, recession goes easy on the environment, etc — that appear frequently in the journals. One such report that I read said that recession impacts the health of the people negatively. That seemed quite understandable. After all, recession must mean worry, stress, depression, less money for buying optional food items like fruits, less money for buying medicines, etc. Before I could fully nod my understanding affirmation, I saw Medical News Today report recently that said health actually improves during recession.

Hey, what’s that? How can recession lead to better health despite the stress of economic hardships? Aren’t the two reports contradicting each other?

Not actually. They aren’t speaking about the same data or the same conditions. Funny, but different data can support different conclusions.

First, the survey talks of people in developed countries who had extra money to splurge, and not about people already living a hand-to-mouth existence. For the latter, economic boom provides for essential needs such as food and clean water, as well access to basic health care services.

In contrast, for the richer nations,  health improvement and mortality declines are more during the economic busts than during economic booms. For example, during the World War II, people were forced to subsist on their rationed provisions of food like butter and cheese and had to supplement with home-grown vegetables in what was called Victory Gardens, as this would help to lower the price of vegetables needed to feed the troops. This step resulted in reduction of obesity and incidences of type 2 diabetes in people during the World War.

Source: Wikimedia

People devise methods to beat recession. People devise ways to be happy. Psychologists would explain this as the psychological immune system — a system that helps them to adapt to the worlds in which they find themselves.

Driven to the wall, people start thinking of survival. And become better at the game every day. People who would walk into restaurants during lunch hours now take home-packed brown bags to work. No overeating and automatic portion control. You don’t need to pay a dietitian or a personal trainer for inspiring ideas. People who merely took gym memberships and routinely let it lapse have become more purse conscious. They actually visit the gym till the memberships last, and then… take the stairs instead of taking the elevators and walk to nearby shopping centers instead of driving. Cheaper weight loss options. Cleaner air is the welcome side effect.

That explains the differing research outcomes too. Recession makes you stock less in your refrigerator. If that means you don’t buy junk food any more, you are on your way to healthy body; but if it means you cut down on healthful items like fruits and vegetables, you lose health.