Life expectancy gap in U.S. widens to 20 years due to "truly alarming" health disparities

Well, nobody said we were all supposed to be equal.

Only white people are supposed to get all the resources

So why are Asians so much higher than all other groups?

That gets predictably buried in the story.

People have a great deal of control over their health and health outcomes. Don't smoke, avoid alcohol, don't do drugs, exercise, don't eat crap food, minimize stress, get adequate sleep, hydrate...it's not complicated.

^^^and don't be fat.

Comparing different races is one thing. Comparing different races and controlling for those living in or closer to poverty and sexual orientation, etc is another.

And I would not be totally surprised to see this admin do exactly that. A major health initiative on various potential high risk groups.

Are these people healthy? Are they dying younger or living longer ? If so why?. Kind of what the govt started with smokers back in early 1962 or so.

Of course it was after the health studies and why smokers were dying younger or needing major medical intervention and treatments to keep alive, it was after that , that the big hammers came down which ended up greatly changing behaviors.

If you are in the health field you see it all the time, unhealthy people are never a surprise. The vast majority have preventable diseases. They just chose not to prevent them and make a lot of bad choices. Or, once the disease process has begun, they STILL do nothing to reverse them. All of this is on them. There is plenty of health information out there and a lot of health practices are common sense.

Is being on antibiotics and other meds daily (or several times weekly ) for years , is that a sign of healthy person or not?

A large gagle of people who refuse to use condoms and instead are on some type of treatment or self treatment virtually every day , year after year after year , potentially for the rest of their lives.

This IMO they will be coming after.

[quote]Don't smoke, avoid alcohol, don't do drugs, exercise, don't eat crap food, minimize stress, get adequate sleep, hydrate.

Of all those things listed, only smoking, alcohol and drug abuse are truly within anyone's control; the remainder is all dependent on your income. Yes, even exercise. Sure, anyone can go for a walk. It's having the time and energy to do the exercise that is important. For instance, someone who works as a cashier at Target is on their feet for 8 hours a day. If they're a single kid living with their parents, sure, they can go to the gym. But if they're on their own, they have to deal with all of the responsibilities of an adult. Mom isn't there to cook, clean and do laundry. And this is assuming that cashier makes enough money to pay for an apartment and car... which I think we can all agree that such a job in no way covers the cost of living in 2024 America. So they work two jobs, or a side hustle. When, exactly, are they going to find time to regularly exercise?

And if they can't make time for regular exercise, how are they eating the right food? Who's cooking it? Or do they just stop at the McDonalds in the Target for lunch or dinner... or both? And if you don't think a job at Target combined with dealing with life in general doesn't cause stress, you've never worked at Target or any other job on that level.

The point is that it is very easy for wealthy people to look at the working poor and tell them they're not doing the right things to extend their lives. And that's not including those who turn to drugs and alcohol for temporary relief from life's everyday stress.

This is not difficult to grasp. The disparity is explained in one word: money. Those with more live longer, better, and healthier. Those without do not. And like with many other topics, the pandemic merely exacerbated this dirty secret.

Wealthy smokers who drink a lot of booze and use hard drugs don’t die younger. Their money saves them.

DL health advice

It is concerning that different races have differing life expectancies--and, yes, there are a variety of reasons. The main is likely differences in wealth (and wealth is often a societal choice). We also know that health has a direct relationship to the zip code you live in--the quality of the air and water, the foods available, accessibility to medical care, etc.

Again, all of these are societal choices, not genetics.

I've come across many POC who are not poor who still chose to eat crap, be obese, not exercise, and/or not deal with diseases when they begin.

And with the history of poor, discriminatory and outright racist treatment that poc have historically received, it's not hard to see why many are skeptical, if not blatantly afraid, of our medical system. Black women in particular regularly report that their doctors do not listen to them, do not give them the time needed to properly diagnose, and worse, tell them that the pain and/or symptoms they feel are in their heads.

Somehow betwen 2000 and 2010 black people forget they were supposed to fear doctors and their life eexpectancy increased! But then in 2021 they changed their minds. Or maybe something else happened....

RFK Jr. will redefine "truly alarming."

[quote] I've come across many POC who are not poor who still chose to eat crap, be obese, not exercise, and/or not deal with diseases when they begin.

Please, this is all Americans, not just POC

The morning paper here reported just this morning that record numbers of Blacks and Hispanics voted for Trump this year.

Let's see if their life expectancy goes up or down after 4 years of Trump/Neofascist rule. I'm guessing way, way down, but at long as Trump lowers the cost of Cheetos at the corner bodega things will be fine and they'll continue to vote for the guy who wants to destroy the middle and working classes.

[quote]I've come across many POC who are not poor who still chose to eat crap, be obese, not exercise, and/or not deal with diseases when they begin

I see this in my own family: overweight/obese, poor eating habits and not enough exercise.

^^^^ forgot to say I'm white and well-enough off

Not surprising at all given the state of the world. Many of us are silently opting out of life because we see nothing but trash around us. My goal has always been to maximize dopamine per unit of life, not maximize total life itself.

But they sure know their rap.

[quote]By 2021, after the impacts of the pandemic, the gaps grew substantially wider, with Asian American life expectancy averaging 84 years while American Indian or Alaska Native people in the West averaged 63.6 years. Life expectancy among non-Hispanic Black Americans fell to 71.0 years, from 74.8 just two years earlier, with significant variations depending on where they lived.

Could it be largely due to diet: Whereas one group eats more fish and vegetables, another subsists on fried food and sugar. It's not surprising, nor is it racism.

R3 Exactly because it’s not as simple as racism. It’s cultural.

not just POC

I live with POC, they as a rule eat worse than other demographics by choice, because that's what they Iike, there's no food deserts here either, bbq is off the chain here and it costs a lot.

R13, do you realize how many people in the medical profession are POC? Stop thinking the little world you live in or read about in the NYTs is reality.

R17, people have a lot more agency, intelligence and depth than you could ever imagine, even POC. POC don't need the government or White largesse to save them. The last thing you want to depend on is fucking politicians. They destroy almost everything, especially people.

These threads seem to bring out a lot of the same righteous scolds that populate the retirement threads.

[quote]So why are Asians politicians so much higher than all other groups?

Asians' life expectancy might be greater due to diet, not being obese, and having better study habits.

^^^in other words, the fucking obvious. Culture is destiny.

This country just keeps getting shittier and shittier.

Pretty pessimistic about the short term and the medium term.

And the long term

I'm going to take a wild guess that fried and sugary foods are a big part of the gap. When obesity is normalized in certain segments of the population, expect shorter lives.

Only white people have to count calories and watch sugar.

Not everyone wants to live to be that old. Some people choose to eat what they want, drink and smoke as much as they want and avoid doctors. Their life, their choice. "Alarming"? More like, "Duh".

Doesn’t a segment of the population make fun of men who weigh less than 200 pounds? There you go.

I think of the years I lived in the Deep South. What I learned was that the southern diet had all the potential to be a very healthy diet. Every kind of buffet had more variety of vegetables than were ever seen in the North. Cabbage, greens of all descriptions (collards, turnip, mustard, etc), green beans, turnips, corn, many different kinds of cooked beans, sweet potatoes. In short, everything that nutritionists are constantly encouraging us to eat. The problem is that they were accompanied by lots of fried foods, and the meats they eat tend to be fattier kinds (pork) and fattier cuts. Then every meal is accompanied by very sugary iced tea served in enormous pitcher sized glasses, biscuits, cornbread, and a huge assortment of desserts.

What none of the posters above are referencing though has as much to do with constant stress due to income insecurity, fear of crime in the neighborhood, fear of the police, fear of being evicted, fear of not having enough money at the end of the month to buy food, constantly having to rob Peter to pay Paul, as it does with any health choice that poorer people and poorer demographics are making. In fact, that stress may be a factor in some poor choices that they make.

Who wants to live long in Trumps AmeriKa

R35, as someone famous once said, "Life is hard, it's even harder if you're stupid."

Me love you long time.

So, the yellow fish people live the longest.

It is likely mainly about diet. We're all eating chemical made to look and taste like food. We're also over-eating to death.

The more educated tend to know about and have access to healthier foods.

R35 you hit on the nail. And also they ruin many nutritious vegetables like collards and cabbage by putting sugar in it.

R40 They also tend to be more intentional and pay attention to detail.

Sugar is the least of the problems with southern style vegetables - they are usually swimming in salt and pork fat.

Thanks for mentioning pork fat. If any of you have any seasoned pork snout you have purchased but not eaten, your seasoned snout may be on a very large CDC recall list . So do check.

I would usually go with country bacon for my greens, but good call, R44.