Life Expectancy at a New High
[Guest post by DRJ]
The U.S. life expectancy rose to nearly 78 years old according to the CDC, and it’s attributed to “falling death rates in almost all the leading causes of death.” Thirty other countries have longer life spans, with the highest being Japan at 83 years.
There’s also this interesting nugget in the article:
“Last year, the CDC said U.S. life expectancy had inched above 78 years. But the CDC recently changed how it calculates life expectancy, which caused a small shrink in estimates to below 78.”
Anyone know what changed?
— DRJ
Since we eat the crap at McDonald’s, lay in front of the TV and computer all day, and don’t exercise, is it so surprising we’re so low?
JEA (cfcb76) — 8/19/2009 @ 11:55 amWe’ll see about THAT. All those old people cost money, we’ll be counseling them at 62 soon enough.
Dr. Death Ezekiel Emmanuel (b90bc6) — 8/19/2009 @ 12:03 pmA lot of these democratic boondoggle make more sense if the age of retirement is higher than the life expectancy. I know that was FDR’s trick.
I wouldn’t mind that much if the retirement age were raised, but lowering life expectancy might not have the same appeal.
Juan (bd4b30) — 8/19/2009 @ 12:10 pmJEA…while I am in front of a computer, it’s only for a moment, since I’m working, and I can’t get McDonald’s at work–although I do eat McD’s eggs and bacon, no bread, with water for breakfast)….
I’m working…
I’ll guess why we’re low….rural areas, Indian areas, projects, murder rates, higher infant mortality rates, abundance of food (yea, abundance, which means we eat much more than we should…)
Of course, the mortality rates have dropped in the last 20 years, and the life expancy has risen…
NO THANKS to that really bad health insurance/care system we have here…it’s so bad….
reff (b996d9) — 8/19/2009 @ 12:14 pmDRJ,
Did they start factoring in abortions as “0” or something?
Leviticus (f565c1) — 8/19/2009 @ 12:21 pmHey DRJ:
Mark Steyn has been addressing the whole idea of using life expectancy as a key indicator of health. He is promising a future column that addresses how it is calculated and what exactly it means. I assume he will write about how Cuba’s vaunted low infant mortality rates are mostly a function of the government mandating termination of any pregnancy that might be complicated and not some benefit of a communist health care system. It is also likely that our slightly lower life expectancy with respect to Western Europe is due to variations in health across various ethnic groups.
JVW (111cb0) — 8/19/2009 @ 12:26 pmI don’t know how the CDC changed its computations, but this article explains how we are comparing apples and oranges: Comparing Statistics
For instance, race: Japanese Americans live as long as Japanese. African Americans have very low longevity as do AFricans. The US protocol for infants is to try to save babies that other nations’ protocols might not.
So, have that Big Mac and relax and enjoy yourself. Once you’ve hit middle age, you’re home free.
Patricia (29a01d) — 8/19/2009 @ 12:26 pmLet’s see what changed…..hmmm…oh yeah The Imitation Christ became President. All of world came together as one and lived forever with rainbows and lollipops!
Jaded (2dcf17) — 8/19/2009 @ 12:44 pmActually Japanese Americans live LONGER HERE than in Japan.
The worst health care system in the world don’t ya know.
Socialize now!
HeavenSent (01a566) — 8/19/2009 @ 12:55 pm“It is also likely that our slightly lower life expectancy with respect to Western Europe is due to variations in health across various ethnic groups.”
Uh, duh. It is called Blacks. 15% of the Pop. They add about 1 year if excluded.
Not only that, the statistical difference in life expectancy is nil.
Stats, in this case, lie really bad.
HeavenSent (01a566) — 8/19/2009 @ 12:58 pmIn Japan they have those women who give massages by walking on your back.
That’s going to keep anyone alive at least another 5 years.
JayC (935b29) — 8/19/2009 @ 1:00 pmObamacare will fix this little issue. We Americans aren’t supposed to be better than any other nation.
/snark
Dan F (59ab42) — 8/19/2009 @ 1:21 pmI wonder…
How do homicides/death by natural disaster get factored into those numbers?
Scott Jacobs (6aff37) — 8/19/2009 @ 1:23 pmAs the great and good Thomas Sowell notes, the United States’ relatively high rates of homicide, obesity, and narcotics usage plays a key role in the “negative” statistics that Dims like to use as “proof” of “our” system’s shortcomings.
Of course, as Mr. Sowell likes to point out, there’s a difference between HEALTH care and MEDICAL care. Unfortunately, this important distinction is ignored by most libs and, sadly, many conservatives.
Speaking of Mr. Sowell: please visit townhall.com and read the two-part column he wrote yesterday and today on this very issue.
Bubba Maximus (456175) — 8/19/2009 @ 1:34 pmSteve Chapman has an interesting article on the editorial page of the Orange County Register today on this very subject. He cites a book “The Business of Health” by economists Robert L.Obsfeldt and John E. Schneider in which they describe how they set out to determine where the U.S. would rank in life span among developed nations if homicides and accidents were factored out. Their answer? First place. Which tells me we do have the world’s best health care now.
jwarner (0a2a75) — 8/19/2009 @ 1:53 pmPatricia #7 may be onto something. I was interested to find that infants born to Cuban-American women have a significantly lower mortality rate. Cuba’s own infant mortality rate is nominally on par with the U.S.’s. I think it’s fair to say their health care system is a disgrace, so that suggests a strong genetic factor. Variations in the genetic makeup of America’s diverse population, and not its health care delivery system, may well account for its relatively low ranking.
[note: fished from spam filter]
sierra (dfb2fa) — 8/19/2009 @ 2:03 pm. . . they describe how they set out to determine where the U.S. would rank in life span among developed nations if homicides and accidents were factored out. Their answer? First place.
Steyn makes that point too, that our slightly lower life expectancy vis a vis Western Europe is mostly due to early deaths. By the time an American reaches age 40, his life expectancy is equivalent to that of an Englishman. By the time he reaches 60, his life expectancy is equivalent to that of a German; and by 80 it is equivalent to a Swede’s. That has to be a strong indicator that our medical system is as good as, if not superior to, that of our European friends.
JVW (111cb0) — 8/19/2009 @ 2:08 pm” Anyone know what changed? “…Yes, it didn’t fit the meme that the heathcare system in this country is so awful that the socialist, er government must ruin, er run our heathcare to implode, er improve it to their, um everyones’ benefit.
Edward Lunny (331570) — 8/19/2009 @ 2:39 pmI wouldn’t worry. That’s one of the curves that Obamacare will bend down.
Mike K (2cf494) — 8/19/2009 @ 2:53 pmlet me guess.
ABORTION
Jane (b126cc) — 8/19/2009 @ 3:25 pmHmm. Since every action has an equal and opposite reaction, I wonder how much the life expectancy in Iraq went down due to their ‘liberty’.
Dr. Inestine (c56c49) — 8/19/2009 @ 3:47 pmHmm. Since every action has an equal and opposite reaction, I wonder how much the life expectancy in Iraq went down due to their ‘liberty’.
Why wonder when you can very easily Google search for it (presuming you know how)? Unless, of course, you only mean to take some desperate shots at the Bush Administration.
But heck, let’s take a look at the comparative life expectancy charts to see how the nations of the world stack up. Notice anything interesting about the countries in the bottom quartile? Did you catch that many of them are nations affected by civil and ethnic wars which our progressive friends tell us that we Westerners can’t possibly do anything about except to send financial aid through corrupt and useless international organizations that will just squander it anyway? Or better yet, maybe we should send in blue-helmeted U.N. troops who have no authorization to stop the violence but who can be counted on to abuse and rape the locals. Isn’t that how you progressives propose to deal with these situations?
JVW (111cb0) — 8/19/2009 @ 4:55 pmThe way in which many countries count infants who die shortly after childbirth may contribute significantly to these statistics.
j.pickens (8b5ad5) — 8/19/2009 @ 6:12 pmThe US counts them as deaths, European, and other nations, count them as terminated pregnancies, so they don’t count in infant mortality or average live expectancy, as they do in the US.
Dr. Inestine evidently has already forgotten the bogus studies that “proved” how many hundreds of thousands of children were dying in Iraq during the Clinton administration due to the Gulf War sanctions.
Typical of the vapid BDS sufferers of course.
SPQR (796cfb) — 8/19/2009 @ 6:22 pm#21:
Well, genius, since life expectancy is very strongly correlated with wealth, and since the standard of living for an overwhelmingly large portion of the population in Iraq has skyrocketed since the toppling of the Baathist regime headed by Saddam Hussein, I would suggest that you are the winner of “Today’s Really, Really Stupid Question” award.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 8/19/2009 @ 7:21 pmYay, we’re No. 31! You righties are correct that we have the “best health care system in the world” and we shouldn’t change a thing. Except for that living longer thing.
I applaud your integrity, DRJ, in posting this, however.
Myron (ba9235) — 8/19/2009 @ 9:46 pmMyron, we are number 1. We clearly have the best health care in the world. Combine that with our racial makeup and diet and violence, and you get a lower overall life expectancy, but only an idiot would compare our health care to another nations on the basis of just this one number.
There’s a lot more to a place than that. go visit Japan and you’ll see people who eat well and are all part of a race that lives a lot longer, both here and there, than, say, black men.
Oh well… statistics. They aren’t that hard to understand if you aren’t trying to play a game with them. Take into account the other elements, for example, exclude the violence or adjust per race, and it’s obvious the USA has the best health care system in the world. It’s the best because it’s where you can make a lot of money making people healthier. not very surprising.
Juan (bd4b30) — 8/19/2009 @ 9:50 pmWe should keep in mind as well that other countries do not measure infant mortality the same as we do. Someone else may know the details but all or most of the difference in infant mortality rates can be attributed to methodological reasons. It is the same as how the Brits only count crimes that they respond to in their statistics rather than the number of crimes actually reported. Everyone has a tendency to want to make themselves look better than they actually are.
Ben Franklin (1e2a18) — 8/20/2009 @ 6:04 amHot Air has a post about how the CDC came to their conclusions.
Life Expectancy.
[note: fished from spam filter]
Patricia (29a01d) — 8/20/2009 @ 9:09 amI read somewhere that something like 75% of tested kids have vitamin D deficiency– higher if they’re minority. (gee, you need more sunshine if you’re not fish-belly like, oh, me, whodda thunk it– TV time+ don’t burn in five minutes= less sunshine vitamin)
I know that gang violence tends to disproportionately hit minorities, too– might contribute to a lower black life expectancy rate.
Just wanted to echo the difference in how we count kids who don’t live very long– some places don’t count as a live birth for days, we count “alive when born” as “live birth.” Higher accident rates, too, and fairly large numbers of folks who grew up with poor nutrition.
Foxfier (97deae) — 8/21/2009 @ 9:01 am