מתח בין יהודים לערבים מסכן בריאות: שונות קצב לב אצל נשים יהודיות ומוסלמיות בעפולה ובנצרת

Many studies show that urban environments affect the balance of the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System) leading to health risks, while parks produce a reviving environment. Some studies indicate ethnic differences in the effect of urban environments on the balance of the autonomic nervous system. These differences are mainly attributed to differences in lifestyles (nutrition, physical activity, clothing, etc.), exposure to discrimination and physiological differences in the response of the autonomic nervous system, though these findings are inconclusive. The study examines ethnic differences in the functioning of the autonomic nervous system in intra-ethnic environments and the effect of crossing the ethnic border of the autonomic nervous system. In an experimental study, 48 Muslim women and 24 Jewish women were exposed to a city park; the city center and residential street in Afula as a Jewish city and Nazareth as an Arab city. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was measured by mobile devices. The data analysis was carried out by accepted methods of frequency and time domain measures of Shekel. Each female subject was tested in the three environments in her own ethnic space and in the ethnic space of the other group. Among Muslim women, half of the experiment was carried out in half of them, before the terrorist wave of the Intifada and after its outbreak. The results, analyzed by mixed models, indicated the restorative effect of parks on both groups, while Jewish women responded more strongly than Muslim women to the three environments respectively. Differences were also found in the reaction of the autonomous system of Jews and Muslims in the intra-ethnic urban environments. And similar tendencies were found in Jewish and Muslim women crossing ethnic borders. It can be assumed that the Intifada, which increased the tension between Arabs and Jews and the feelings of personal danger on the city streets, was responsible for the increased stress response as expressed by the HRV in Muslim women.