View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17742 Location: Berkeley, California
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:53 pm Post subject: Why folks in blue states live longer |
|
|
Quote: | Context: Life expectancy in the United States has increased little in previous decades, declined in recent years, and become more unequal across US states. Those trends were accompanied by substantial changes in the US policy environment, particularly at the state level. State policies affect nearly every aspect of people’s lives, including economic well-being, social relationships, education, housing, lifestyles, and access to medical care. This study examines the extent to which the state policy environment may have contributed to the troubling trends in US life expectancy.
Methods: We merged annual data on life expectancy for US states from 1970 to 2014 with annual data on 18 state-level policy domains such as tobacco, environment, tax, and labor. Using the 45 years of data and controlling for differences in the characteristics of states and their populations, we modeled the association between state policies and life expectancy, and assessed how changes in those policies may have contributed to trends in US life expectancy from 1970 through 2014.
Findings: Results show that changes in life expectancy during 1970-2014 were associated with changes in state policies on a conservative-liberal continuum, where more liberal policies expand economic regulations and protect marginalized groups. States that implemented more conservative policies were more likely to experience a reduction in life expectancy. We estimated that the shallow upward trend in US life expectancy from 2010 to 2014 would have been 25% steeper for women and 13% steeper for men had state policies not changed as they did. We also estimated that US life expectancy would be 2.8 years longer among women and 2.1 years longer among men if all states enjoyed the health advantages of states with more liberal policies.
Conclusions: Understanding and reversing the troubling trends and growing inequalities in US life expectancy requires attention to US state policy contexts, their dynamic changes in recent decades, and the forces behind those changes. Changes in US political and policy contexts since the 1970s may undergird the deterioration of Americans’ health and longevity. |
Of course, dismantling public health protections to increase business profits, particularly for big energy companies, is near and dear to the heart (if there is one) of the Trumpists and myrgybe. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
techno900
Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4161
|
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2020 7:46 am Post subject: |
|
|
A key sentence from the first paragraph:
This study examines the extent to which the state policy environment may have contributed to the troubling trends in US life expectancy. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17742 Location: Berkeley, California
|
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2020 10:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
techno900 wrote: | A key sentence from the first paragraph:
This study examines the extent to which the state policy environment may have contributed to the troubling trends in US life expectancy. |
Writes techno as his fellow North Carolinians snarf down barbecued pork and follow up with a a cigarette.
Rate of smoking:
California 11.2%
North Carolina. 17.4%
Ark. 22.7%
Alabama. 19.2%
W.Va. 25.2%
Kentucky. 23.4%
Obesity rates are at least 5% higher in the east than the west. Must be a coincidence. The rest of the country pays for health care for fat smokers in red states. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
techno900
Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4161
|
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2020 3:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Interesting to note that California's Hispanic and Asian population accounts for 50% of the total population.
In California, Hispanics live 3 years longer than whites and Asians live 7 years longer than whites. While whites in Calif do live two years longer than the average for whites across the US, it's the Hispanic's and Asian's that push the state's overall average to number two in the US.
No point intended, but I guess I need to eat more tortillas and rice.
On the other hand, I wonder how that State's policy environment came into play? Open borders?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_life_expectancy |
|
Back to top |
|
|
mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17742 Location: Berkeley, California
|
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2020 3:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Congratulations Techno. You are doing a polite version of mrgybe--trying to divert from the message because you can't debate it. Liberal policies that use regulations to protect public health work. They even save public money on health care costs. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
|
|
|