Noncompliance with doctors' orders is demonstrably rampant in low-income clinics, reaching 60% in one cited study. Noncompliance is often taken to signify a lack of patient motivation, but it often clearly reflects a simple failure to understand directions...
Noncompliance isn't necessarily because of lack of patient motivation or failure to understand directions. It could also be because of inability for a lifestyle change.
For example, laborers with back problems. While their doctor may advise them not to do any heavy lifting, their boss has hired them specifically for that purpose and likely isn't trained to do much other work. That's not the fault of the patient.
Smoking, obesity and sedentary living are more prevalent among low-status citizens. A 2001 study by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention found that college graduates are three times as likely to live healthily as those who never got beyond high school.
Smoking and eating too much food are often coping mechanisms for stress, of which low-status citizens have much of. The sedentary living can also be attributed to not having the time to get exercise consistently.
Low status citizens often work long hours with a high amount stress to perform from their bosses. This is on top of any family stress, which is likely since low status citizens are less educated, including with regard to sex education and birth control.
So the lifestyle of many low status workers is that they often work long hours with little respect from their bosses and high pressure to perform for minimum pay and when they get home they have to take care of their children and then sleep and wake up to do it all over again. Because their time is taken up with working for basic living or watching their children, low status citizens don't have an ability to healthily cope with those constant stresses. This leads to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as smoking, overeating, drinking, or illegal drugs.
Office workers often contributes to a sedentary lifestyle because of their job, but the nature of their job often prevents them from getting the exercise they need. They get too tired to exercise and want to relax whenever they get the chance.
All of those factors lead to a lower standard of health.
There's a few things that can be done.
Businesses can be made to provide exercise time at work, while the government can provide basic gym memberships or simple exercise equipment to be used at home. This can be as simple as a small exercise cycle and dumbbells for basic weightlifting.
Institute a mandatory number of days off per week for workers, such as 1 day off per week. This will allow workers plenty of time to rest between the work week and recharge. This will reduce stresses.
Universal mental health care will also help too. Smoking, drinking, and illegal drug use is often a symptom of self-medication for mental illness. Government can provide free counseling and mental health medication and low status citizens can take advantage of it. By helping people with their mental illness and disorders, they can take better care of themselves.
Community young programs are important too, as they keep the children busy and safe while the parent works. It also helps to better socialize children and give them a better education overall.
I figured I should have ping'd the census bureau first.