THE annual Scottish Health Survey this week painted a grim picture of a nation struggling to shake off the sick country tag.

Poor diet, increasing obesity, not enough change in smoking and a very worrying increase in young people, particularly women, reporting mental illness.

Over recent decades Glasgow has made progress on many health issues with a reduction in death rates for the three big killers, cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Smoking has been cut significantly and overall the health of the city looks to be improving compared to decades gone by.

However look a little deeper beneath these headline statistics and you see a stubborn problem that glossy posters and advertising campaigns designed at changing behaviour are not enough to tackle.

For all the improvements and there has been progress they are mostly being witnessed in the better off areas. Meanwhile in the poorest areas, of Glasgow has many, the problems remain and the improvements are nowhere near as big.

In recent years there has been a drive towards preventative spending, targeted at deprived communities to improve health and wellbeing in the early years to reduce problems later in life.

Much of the Scottish government’s strategy is in this vein with increasing childcare and plans to target education resources at poorer communities.

In recent weeks we have seen health officials and social care bosses tell MSPs that the amount of cash invested is not enough.

The health board cannot balance its budget and is implementing tens of millions of pounds of cuts and social care staff are struggling to provide the care they are expected to deliver to people at home.

Then we have warnings from economists that there will be more than a billion pounds cut from council budgets in the next five years on top of what has already decimated departments and had an adverse impact on services.

All of this leads to an inability to treat those who are ill and those who need care and manifests itself in people being admitted to hospital when it is not the best place for them.

And it leaves people stuck in hospital when they should be at home but the right care package hasn’t been put in place.

These problems are more acute in the most deprived communities and cuts to council and health board budgets will only exacerbate the problem.

What is also more acute in the poorest communities is the mental health issue where young people where far more likely to attempt suicide than in better off areas.

Self-harm mainly among young women was also more prevalent in deprived communities.

On top of everything else welfare reforms of recent years have hit the poorest communities and disabled people disproportionately hard.

It has led to people attempting suicide, it has led to long term depression so it is no surprise to see an increase in people reporting mental health issues.

The answer is clear, if not straightforward.

If governments continue to starve poorer communities of resources these problems are only going to get worse and they know it.