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Sociologists and public health officials have long thought a ZIP code is at least as important as race, age and genetics in determining a person's health. Now, a growing body of more advanced research is bringing the issue to the forefront once again and opening up the debate about how the nation looks at health care.

In one recent study, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found racial disparities normally associated with hypertension, diabetes and obesity weren't as strong when they took into account where people lived.

The researchers looked at racially integrated, working-class neighborhoods, including in Southwest Baltimore, and found that blacks and whites had similar health outcomes. They also compared health outcomes in the neighborhoods to national health surveys. Across the country, blacks are more likely to suffer from hypertension, but when looking at the Baltimore neighborhood, the disparity declined by 29 percent. Blacks and whites in the neighborhood also showed similar odds of being obese.

Read the full article at the Baltimore Sun