A recurring theme in this research was that of structural and material barriers to improving health. Poor housing, unsafe streets, and financial hardship were at least as important in preventing certain outcomes (such as taking regular exercise) as religious restrictions or ethnic customs, a finding noted by other researchers in this area.21 22 It is not within the remit of this paper to expand on the profound socioeconomic disadvantage of many British Bangladeshis, nor on the literature linking poverty with health inequalities in general,23 but the importance of this factor as a barrier to health gain should not be ignored.