It is commonly believed that moving to the seaside can improve health thanks to cleaner air, more opportunities for physical activity, swimming, and reduced stress levels. However, a recent study found no decrease in the risk of developing certain chronic diseases among residents of coastal areas. Moreover, researchers identified reasons why, in some cases, people living by the sea may actually have less favorable health outcomes.

Different Perspectives on Life by the Sea

In recent years, there have been conflicting opinions about the impact of living near the sea on health. Some studies have linked proximity to the coast with better mental health and overall well-being, while others have noted a higher prevalence of chronic diseases among coastal residents, for example in England. The question remained whether this was due to living by the sea itself or to specific characteristics of the populations in these areas.

Study Design

To analyze the situation, experts from British research institutions examined data from two large national projects—the National Child Development Study and the British Cohort Study. The research included information on nearly 28,000 people who were followed from birth into middle age.

To assess health status, the researchers used the indicator of multimorbidity—the presence of two or more chronic diseases diagnosed by a doctor. Conditions such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, depression, and others were included in the analysis. The results were published in the journal BMJ Public Health.

Main Findings

Initially, the researchers checked whether living on the coast during adolescence affected the risk of developing multimorbidity decades later. No connection was found: people who grew up in coastal towns were neither more nor less likely to have multiple chronic diseases in middle age compared to those living in inland regions.

Analysis of adult residence showed that among participants born in 1958, living on the coast at age 42 was associated with a roughly 22% higher risk of multimorbidity. However, after adjusting for the level of socioeconomic deprivation in the area, this association was no longer statistically significant. In the 1970 cohort, no such relationship was found at all.

The Impact of Migration and Socioeconomic Factors

Further analysis revealed that people who moved from the coast to inland areas reported multimorbidity less often than those who, on the contrary, moved to the seaside. In the 1958 cohort, the risk of having multiple chronic diseases was 25% among those who left the coast and about 35% among those who moved there. In the younger cohort, the difference persisted but was less pronounced.

Migration was closely linked to the prosperity of the regions. Those who stayed or moved to the coast were more likely to end up in less affluent areas, while those who left coastal territories often settled in places with lower levels of deprivation.

Conclusion

The combination of socioeconomic disadvantage and selective migration leads to a concentration of people with chronic diseases in coastal communities. Thus, less favorable health indicators are explained not by the influence of the marine environment, but by the characteristics of the population and changes within it over time.

Although the study does not prove a direct causal link between living by the sea and health status, it is one of the largest on this topic thanks to its long-term observation and analysis of data from two independent cohorts. Experts note that to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases in coastal areas, attention should be paid not so much to the fact of living by the sea, but to the socioeconomic problems of these regions. Addressing deprivation and its consequences may help improve the health of populations in such communities.