This study looked at whether people living in coastal areas are more likely to develop multiple long-term health conditions in midlife using data from the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohort studies. The findings suggest that coastal living itself is not the main cause of poorer health. Instead, coastal communities were more likely to experience higher levels of deprivation, and people who stayed in or moved to these areas tended to have worse health than those who moved away. The findings suggest that growing health inequalities in coastal areas are closely tied to economic disadvantage and changing population patterns.
Stephen Jivraj et al. | Is living on the coast associated with midlife multimorbidity in England and Wales? A cross-birth cohort analysis of the relationship between long-term residence and selective migration | BMJ Public Health, 2026