The state of my health has always been not so good, if compared to my peers. Modern society often stresses a focus on the fact that an individual is the only one who determines the state of his or her health. Numerous advertisements that address the importance of living a healthy lifestyle and individual’s own responsibility for it are a proof. Apart from this, both in public and scholarly discussions and debates, many health problems are viewed as the result of heredity, or one’s genetic predisposition to certain types of diseases. Indeed, these factors are important in terms of their contribution to the individual’s state of health. However, if we apply the sociological imagination to my problematic health, it will become evident that many individuals who share my social characteristics, often suffer from the same problem. Namely, through the lenses of sociological imagination, the factor that significantly influences one’s health outcomes is the socioeconomic class of an individual.

It is important to understand the connection between individual’s economic status (which is one of the aspects of individual’s social class) and his or her food choices. Studies continue to reveal the connection between the consumption of healthy foods and high social position in society. For instance, ‘the first 50 years of Britain’s National Food Survey show a consistency in the higher income group’s consumption of and lower income group consumption of sugar and preserves, it is a continuing trend also analyzed by economists’ (Murcott, 2002)’. People with higher SES can afford buying healthy food, while individuals with lower income lack the required economic means to do so.

Access to proper medical services is another factor that is closely intertwined with the social class of an individual. Usually better hospitals are located in rich neighborhoods, while the residents of the so called ‘ghetto’ areas have a very bad access to good medical services, if any. Not surprisingly, this seriously affects the type of medical help that individuals from these groups receive. Another concern is the cost of the medical insurance. Being provided with medical insurance is often an unattainable goal for individual with low economic status, especially in the United States.

Another factor that reveals the connection between one’s health status and his or her social class is the social capital. Social capital is usually referred to as the position of an individual in the field of social networks. While individuals from higher social classes have wider networks, individuals with low socio-economic status, as a rule, have a very limited number of individuals they can have contact with. In the meantime, there is a strong connection between social capital and the state of one’s health. For instance, as shown in the study conducted by Magson, Rhonda and Bodkin-Andrew (2014), social capital is one of the determinants of one’s state of health. Social capital influences health primary due to the wider access to medical and other types of assistance that an individual with strong social networks is more likely to have, if compared to the socially disadvantaged groups of individuals.

Thus, through the lenses of sociological imagination, my problem that is, at least seemingly, purely biological is actually closely intertwined with different social factors. Our health is thus very often not our own creation or the outcome of our genetic predispositions, but the reflection of our social status and our class position. The famous statement that we are the masters of our own life is challenged by the evidence derived from sociological research. The understanding of the effect that social class has on health outcomes calls for proactive measures. American society cannot afford inaction, hoping that this issue will disappear by itself.