NBC News
Life expectancy depends on the place where you live, according to new research.
The life expectancy of Americans increased throughout the twentieth century, although in some states, especially in the south, it is not much greater than 100 years ago. The situation is worse among women.
Researchers at the YAL Public Health School analyzed the mortality data of 77 million women and 102 million men born between 1900 and 2000. The findings, published last Monday in Jama Network Open magazine, showed that life expectancy at national level for women increased from 73.8 to 84.1 years in that period, while for men it increased from 62.8 to 80.3 years.
Scientists and health officials calculate life expectancy at birth as a way of understanding the health of a country over time. The life expectancy of Americans since the last century has varied dramatically according to the State.
“What surprised me was that, in some states, especially for women, there are practically no changes,” said Theodore Holford, co -author of the study and principal researcher in Bioestadistics of the University of Yale. “In the last 100 years, in some of these southern states, life expectancy improved less than two years, within the framework of all the medical advances of the twentieth century.”
The five states with the lowest life expectancy among women born in 2000, compared to those born in 1900, are:
- West Virginia: 75.3 (compared to 74.3)
- Oklahoma: 76 (compared to 76.7)
- Kentucky: 76.5 (compared to 74.9)
- Mississippi: 76.6 (compared to 73.2)
- Arkansas: 76.6 (compared to 75.7)
The southern men born in 2000 also tended to have a lower life expectancy, although they showed improvements greater than women since 1900:
- Mississippi: 71.8 (compared to 62.3)
- West Virginia: 72.6 (compared to 63.7)
- Alabama: 72.6 (compared to 62.5)
- Louisiana: 72.9 (compared to 61.5)
- Tennessee: 73.4 (compared to 63.6)
Not all southern states show a lower or stagnant life expectancy for people born in 2000.
Florida, Texas and Virginia are among the 20 southern states with greater life expectancy, both for men and women born in 2000.
Other states outside the south that were located between the last 10 for both sexes include Ohio and Indiana.
The study also highlights life expectancy by state and sex in the mid -1950s.
Men, in particular, showed greater improvement during the first half of the century. In North Dakota, for example, male life expectancy increased 10 years, from 66.4 in 1900 to 76.5 in 1950, but only one year, 77.8, between 1950 and 2000.
The data reflect the state in which a person died, not their place of birth.
It is well known that women live more than men, but this latest research reveals geographical disparities in life expectancy at a turning point in the Federal Public Health Administration. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., lamented the state of the country’s health system in a April 10 statement, also published in The New York Post.
“The health of our country is getting worse. The United States has the highest rates of chronic diseases in the world,” Kennedy said. “We occupy the last place in terms of health among developed countries. And life expectancy is decreasing for many American groups.”
Why is life expectancy lower in the south?
Yale’s study claims to be the first to analyze the historical trends of state mortality due to birth cohort, which means that entire generations are traced.
Population health research usually uses a metric called life expectancy per period, which estimates the influence on mortality for a certain year, such as during a pandemic.
“The idea is to try to identify generational factors,” said Holford. “There are many health -related factors that are more closely linked to generations than a calendar year.”
Cindy Prins, an associated professor of the Department of Population Health Sciences of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Florida Central, who did not participate in the study, said: “This is a unique and important approach to examine life expectancy.”
This does not make the data less alarming.
“It is worrying to know that life expectancy in cohort in many southern states, which have the lowest general life hopes, has not changed much over time,” said Prins.
In general, Americans live longer thanks to improvements in medical care, sanitation, tobacco control and cancer prevention, heart disease and other diseases, according to the study. Previous research indicates that states with progressive public health policies are more likely to have greater life expectancy. Socio -economic differences between states also influence longevity.
Dr. Marc Gourevitch, a professor at the Population Health Department at the Grossman Faculty of Medicine of the University of New York, said that research shows that states with policies that promote a more dignified minimum and low minimum wage due to remunerated disease, as well as access to affordable medical care, are more likely to show significant improvements in life expectancy over time.
“Focusing on policies that help people better meet their daily needs promises to be very beneficial to improve life expectancy and, thus, give more people the opportunity to see their grandchildren grow,” said Gourevitch, who did not participate in Yale’s study.
Women born in 2000 in the Columbia district have the highest life expectancy (93 years) and the greatest improvement since 1900, when life expectancy was 63.9 years. Similarly, the men of Washington DC born in 2000 have the third highest life expectancy, with 86.5 years, compared to 48.7 years of the beginning of the century.
“Urban areas tend to have a better performance than rural, probably due to differences in access to medical care,” Holford explained about people who live longer in the country’s capital.
Another change is the composition of the population in the district of Columbia.
“Many more people move to the area and have many economic advantages that would give better access to aspects that affect their health,” said Holford.
What states have the highest life expectancy?
The states with the highest life expectancy for women born in 2000 covered both coasts and beyond the continental territory of the United States:
In New York: 91.9 (compared to 71.2)
California: 91.3, (compared to 73.6)
Massachusetts: 88.8 (compared to 74.2)
Hawaii: 88.7 (compared to 75.6)
Apart from Washington DC, these states show the greatest life expectancy among men born in 2000:
New York: 87.8 (compared to 60.1)
California: 86.8 (compared to 62.7)
Massachusetts: 84.8 (compared to 63.4)
Washington: 84.3 (compared to 63.7)
Holford explained that Yale’s study is part of his work with the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (Cisnet) of the National Cancer Institute. An objective of this and other Cisnet research is to help health departments to address the specific disparities of each state.
A disadvantage of implementing promising public health policies, said Holford, is that it can take years, even generations, measure its effects.
“However, it is important to start implementing them to be able to implement them,” he added.
