From Deseret News archives:
Life expectancy up, mostly for rich
Life expectancy for the nation as a whole has increased, the researchers said, but affluent people have experienced greater gains, and this, in turn, has caused a widening gap.
One of the researchers, Gopal K. Singh, a demographer at the Department of Health and Human Services, said "the growing inequalities in life expectancy" mirrored trends in infant mortality and in death from heart disease and certain cancers.
Singh said last week that federal officials had found "widening socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy" at birth and at every age level.
He and another researcher, Mohammad Siahpush, a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, developed an index to measure social and economic conditions in every county, using census data on education, income, poverty, housing and other factors. Counties were then classified into 10 groups of equal population size.
After 20 years, the lowest socioeconomic group lagged further behind the most affluent, Singh said, noting that "life expectancy was higher for the most affluent in 1980 than for the most deprived group in 2000."
"If you look at the extremes in 2000," Singh said, "men in the most deprived counties had 10 years' shorter life expectancy than women in the most affluent counties (71.5 years versus 81.3 years)." The difference between poor black men and affluent white women was more than 14 years (66.9 years vs. 81.1 years).
While researchers do not agree on an explanation for the widening gap, they have suggested many reasons, including these:
• People who are affluent and better educated are more likely to take advantage of new discoveries to detect and treat many forms of cancer and heart disease.
• Smoking has declined more rapidly among people with greater education and income.
• Lower-income people are more likely to live in unsafe neighborhoods, to engage in risky or unhealthy behavior and to eat unhealthful food.
• Lower-income people are less likely to have health insurance, so they are less likely to receive checkups, screenings, diagnostic tests, prescription drugs and other types of care.
Even among people who have insurance, many studies have documented racial disparities.
A recent study by Ellen R. Meara, a health economist at Harvard Medical School, found that in the 1980s and 1990s, "virtually all gains in life expectancy occurred among highly educated groups."
Recent comments
I grew up in one of the poorest sections of SLC. For the first 20...
samhill | March 23, 2008 at 9:41 a.m.
Now I suppose the Libs will be trying to figure out a way to take...
Dave | March 23, 2008 at 8:18 a.m.
It couldn't the the fact that the rich can afford medical care and...
Bob G | March 23, 2008 at 5:13 a.m.
- Underground railway helps Uighurs 10:46 a.m.
- Ex-U.S. Sen. Paula Hawkins dies 10:43 a.m.
- Russian actor Tikhonov dies at 81 10:42 a.m.
- New Louvre-Lens site inaugurated 10:40 a.m.
- Oil prices fall 10:40 a.m.
- Stocks turn mixed 10:37 a.m.
- 'Bruno' pastor runs for mayor 10:34 a.m.
- Kremlin, U.S. agree to maintain pact 10:29 a.m.
- Car crashes into W.V. duplex 10:26 a.m.
- FDA moves to curb painkiller abuse 10:24 a.m.
- Mr. Football 2009: Tuni Kanuch
- Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
- Harpring's NBA career is over
- Phoenix signs off on LDS temple
- MVPs wrap up stellar prep careers
- Miller predicted Tiger's rough road
- Crews to seal Nutty Putty Cave
- Doctor deems Mitchell competent
- Jazz: Miles, Kirilenko to play Friday
- 5A high school football All-State
- Hall reprimanded by MWC
406 - Max Hall issues apology
393 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
362 - Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
287 - Utes won't respond to Hall
278 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
247 - Letters: Liberal because LDS
226 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
188 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
175 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
169
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
The Marines would have this over in a month if the politicians and attorneys...
I'm glad the jobless rate has finally started to show signs of slowing. That...
The Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) is a...
David - If YOU know anything about basketball you would recognize that Wes is...
Harpring is my favorite player, well, next to CJ. I like the way he knocked...
Hey, I'm from the East and we love Mitt out here. You don't have to be from...
I AGREE WITH SKYHAWK FAN 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Utahns: I want to go to a school that throws beer and other substances...
How many companies hired temps for the holidays? Who are all going to be out...
Obama may have ridden in on his name... and liberal favoritism... despite his...


