Interesting article with frustrating research findings: 16% of Republicans feel that social factors affect health while a not much better 32% of democrats feel social factors affect health. Clearly much work to be done.

Gollust, Ubel and colleagues designed an Internet study and asked more than 2,400 people a series of questions based on diabetes -- an example of a public health problem that may need both political and medical solutions.

People describing themselves as Republican or conservative were far more likely to disagree with arguments that social determinants -- such as the availability of junk food -- were responsible for the epidemic of diabetes.

They found that 32 percent of Democrats agreed that social factors affected health, compared to 16 percent of Republicans. Both groups agreed equally with the role of genetics in diabetes.