Culture is the language, values and beliefs, customs and the ways of behaving that are seen as acceptable in a person’s society and is learned through the process of socialisation.
Some theorists argue that it is the way that we are brought up and influenced by our surroundings that make us the way we are. This is known as the Nature-Nurture debate which centres on the relative importance of environment and the socialization process in the human development compared to the impact of the genetic inheritance. This is particularly important in
Education – Is educational achievements influenced by upbringing or inherited intelligence?
Crime- Are the criminal tendencies a product of the environment or inherited?
Someone who has been raised in a working class lifestyle tend to be guided by their norms and values in their class and will smoke, drink and have a bad eating habits and all these factors affect their health. The Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) refers to health inequalities as: “Preventable and unjust differences in health status experienced by certain population groups. People in lower socio-economic groups are more likely to experience chronic ill-health and die earlier than those who are more advantaged. (Publichealth.ie, 2014)

According to Warde (1997) studies suggested that cultural explanation of Health Inequalities stemmed from life choices as it showed that working class spend more money on unhealthy food and less on fresh fruit and vegetables than the middle class. The “Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey (2007)” carried out for the “Food Standards Agency” found that low income families were not always able to buy the amount and quality of food desired because of insufficient household income, and high prices of food. Foods consumed in the household also had a high calorie content but were low in other nutrients leading to poor health as well as overweight and obesity with long-term adverse health issues. As well as having a poor diet there is also evidence of a higher level of smoking, alcohol intake and lower level of physical activity.

The Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2010 (NIMDM 2010) report was published in May 2010. This report identifies small area concentrations of deprivation across Northern Ireland. There are 582 wards in Northern Ireland which have been ranked from 1 being the most deprived and 582 the least deprived.
Below is a breakdown in relation to two areas within the Coleraine area namely Mountsandel ranked 453 and Ballysally ranked 72.

www.nisra.gov.uk
Within the Mountsandel area there is a higher population of over 65 and a lower population of children under 16 compared to Ballysally.

www.nisra.gov.uk
From the statistics presented in 2010 the Ballysally area would have a larger number of people who are living on Income Support and Housing
Benefit. When comparing the 60+ persons on Pension credit there initially appears to a large number on this income in the Mountsandel area however when you compare the number of person 60+ in the two areas
Ballysally have a larger number on pension credit in comparison.

Health Chart

www.nisra.gov.uk
The Health Chart shows that Mountsandal and Ballysally are similar with long term health problems however with Ballysally having a younger population the long term health problems are starting at an earlier age.

Within health care there are inequalities and a person’s upbringing and culture can lead them to the following belief:-
The consensus theory or functionalism “likens society to the human body where the body functions through the efficient interrelationship of the major organs” (Aldworth,2010, page 208). Just as the body deals with the disease through different mechanisms, society has different organisations which have a particular contribution to make, working together and using methods of social control to deal with deviant members or groups to ensure that their society functions smoothly. The