National Geographic: Men closing life expectancy gap with women is "troubling"

Submitted by mens_issues on Wed, 2013-04-03 12:19

Article here. Apparently it's "troubling" when the life expectancy gap between men and women has been closing, according to this article. Excerpt:

'How long do you have? It depends on gender and geography. In the U.S., women live longer—81 years on average, 76 for men—but a recent study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation reveals a troubling trend. Though men's life spans have increased by 4.6 years since 1989, women have gained only 2.7 years, perhaps because a larger percentage of women have lacked adequate treatment for high blood pressure and cholesterol. "This is a wake-up call," says study co-author Ali Mokdad.'

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Women are already outliving men on average by 6.2%. People of both sexes have gained more years in life since 1989, but women fewer years than men. Men are still dying sooner than women. Women *gained* yet more years of life on top of the extra years they had on men-- and something's wrong with this in terms of how women are faring?

Nymphotropism-- not even life and death can stop it.

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Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2013-04-04 01:02

If you look at the map regarding differences in life expectancy between men and women, it's interesting to note that the places with the lowest gap are places with the best overall health and wellbeing in the nation. For example, Fairfax Co., VA and Marin Co., CA do very well overall and had the best life expectancy for men in 1989 and 2009 respectively as well as relatively low gaps in longevity between men and women. These are wealthy suburban counties at the edge of large metropolitan areas with well educated populations. The worst off counties for men tended to be places where health and wellbeing were the lowest overall, such as Indian reservations, inner cities, and poor parts of the South and Appalachia.

Compare this map with the Gallup-Healthways survey:

http://www.well-beingindex.com/

(There is a link to the .pdf for the 2012 report in there.)

It appears, then, that overall health and well being is best correlated with income and education levels, as well as access to healthcare. Recreational opportunities may make some difference too.
And in such places men tend to have the best overall health and well being and the lowest longevity gaps with women.

The question is, how does one relate this to improving health and well being for men overall?

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Submitted by mens_issues on Fri, 2013-04-05 16:06