Utopia Talk / Politics / Why Americans Die So Much

Paramount Member	Sun Sep 19 14:56:10 Republicans likes to say that every life is sacred, but if they really believe this, then why do they allow Americans to die so much? If every other Western country can protect life why does America fail? Compared with Europeans, American babies are more likely to die before they turn 5, American teens are more likely to die before they turn 20, and American adults are more likely to die before they turn 65. At every age, living in the United States carries a higher risk of mortality. This is America’s unsung death penalty, and it adds up. Average life expectancy surged above 80 years old in just about every Western European country in the 2010s, including Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the U.K., Denmark, and Switzerland. In the U.S., by contrast, the average life span has never exceeded 79—and now it’s just taken a historic tumble. “Europe has better life outcomes than the United States across the board, for white and Black people, in high-poverty areas and low-poverty areas,” Hannes Schwandt, a Northwestern University professor who co-wrote the paper, told me. “It’s important that we collect this data, so that people can ask the right questions, but the data alone does not tell us what the cause of this longevity gap is.” […] By collecting data on American life spans by ethnicity and by income at the county level—and by comparing them with those of European countries, locality by locality—Schwandt and the other researchers made three important findings. First, Europe’s mortality rates are shockingly similar between rich and poor communities. Residents of the poorest parts of France live about as long as people in the rich areas around Paris do. “Health improvements among infants, children, and youth have been disseminated within European countries in a way that includes even the poorest areas,” the paper’s authors write. But in the U.S., which has the highest poverty and inequality of just about any country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, where you live is much more likely to determine when you’ll die. Infants in the U.S. are considerably more likely to die in the poorest counties than in the richest counties, and this is true for both Black and white babies. Black teenagers in the poorest U.S. areas are roughly twice as likely to die before they turn 20, compared with those in the richest U.S. counties. In Europe, by contrast, the mortality rate for teenagers in the richest and poorest areas is exactly the same—12 deaths per 100,000. In America, the problem is not just that poverty is higher; it’s that the effect of poverty on longevity is greater too. Second, even rich Europeans are outliving rich Americans. “There is an American view that egalitarian societies have more equality, but it’s all one big mediocre middle, whereas the best outcomes in the U.S. are the best outcomes in the world,” Schwandt said. But this just doesn’t seem to be the case for longevity. White Americans living in the richest 5 percent of counties still die earlier than Europeans in similarly low-poverty areas; life spans for Black Americans were shorter still. (The study did not examine other American racial groups.) “It says something negative about the overall health system of the United States that even after we grouped counties by poverty and looked at the richest 10th percentile, and even the richest fifth percentile, we still saw this longevity gap between Americans and Europeans,” he added. In fact, Europeans in extremely impoverished areas seem to live longer than Black or white Americans in the richest 10 percent of counties. http://www...ncy-spans-death-europe/620028/
Rugian Member	Sun Sep 19 15:12:47 "for white and Black people" Stopped reading there.
Habebe Member	Sun Sep 19 15:31:03 Paramount, Would you really like to look at why?Or just venting at the US?
Paramount Member	Sun Sep 19 15:43:29 I think it may be because lack of socialism in the US.
Habebe Member	Sun Sep 19 16:10:15 Paramount, Then wouldn't the more socialistic areas live longer? The longest living county in the US IIRC is a group of seventh day Adventists Christians in Cali.
Habebe Member	Sun Sep 19 16:10:50 Greatly due to their religious diet.
Habebe Member	Sun Sep 19 16:11:32 You also have to control for factors like immigration and such.
kargen Member	Sun Sep 19 16:32:27 It's probably because of guns. and Trump.
Habebe Member	Sun Sep 19 18:22:06 Diet is probably a big one Lifestyle, we probably live more dangerous lives Some of that is things like inactivity and we drive much more than most places and driving is an inherently dangerous activity.
Sam Adams Member	Sun Sep 19 22:41:01 White americans live about as long as europeans. Nuff said.
jergul large member	Mon Sep 20 01:01:46 Sammy Shall I play banjo music while I read that post?
Habebe Member	Mon Sep 20 01:10:19 Middle-lower income white Americans life expectancy has been getting worse more rapidly than any other group.
Cloud Strife Member	Mon Sep 20 05:26:19 That makes sense as they also have a tendency towards obesity, smoking, alcoholism, drug use and sedentary lifestyles.
Habebe Member	Mon Sep 20 05:31:31 Cloud, I dont think that's all of it, the last 20-30 years has seen rapid declines.Even the last ten. A poor white person is worse off than an average back person, but still better off than a poor black person in terms of health and general wellbeing.
Cloud Strife Member	Mon Sep 20 05:35:24 They also have no interest, and in many cases an aversion to maintaining their health, that is a unique cultural trait. At least, this is my hypothesis.
Habebe Member	Mon Sep 20 05:44:13 I dont know if its unique but my earlier point is what has changed innthe last 30 years or so for them.
Paramount Member	Mon Sep 20 06:56:03 So explain this: ”In Europe, by contrast, the mortality rate for teenagers in the richest and poorest areas is exactly the same—12 deaths per 100,000.” and: ” even rich Europeans are outliving rich Americans” and: ” White Americans living in the richest 5 percent of counties still die earlier than Europeans in similarly low-poverty areas; ” Is Europe simply better? Why? Socialism?
Habebe Member	Mon Sep 20 08:10:49 Paramount, Well, I think we start by looking at the numbers.Does it cite a link for its claim? What does it consider as Europe?The EU? Is the UK included? I wouldn't imagine Russia would be. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm Heart disease: 659,041 Cancer: 599,601 Accidents (unintentional injuries): 173,040 Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 156,979 Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 150,005 Alzheimer’s disease: 121,499 Diabetes: 87,647 Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 51,565 Influenza and pneumonia: 49,783 Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,511 These are US mortality numbers
Habebe Member	Mon Sep 20 08:12:23 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db395.htm Here are some demographic breakdowns as well as longevity. US 2018/2019
Habebe Member	Mon Sep 20 08:21:54 LEARN EXPLORE ABOUT SEARCH 2019 ANNUAL REPORT International Comparison SHARE DOWNLOAD View Pages 6 / 63 Close Executive Highlights Introduction Findings State Rankings Successes Challenges International Comparison Preview of 2020 Model State Summaries Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming US Summary Appendix Rankings Measures Table Supplemental Measures Table Data Source Descriptions The Team 2019 Annual Report 2019 Annual Report – Executive Highlights This section evaluates how U.S. population health compares with the 36 countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), of which the United States is a member. The organization’s mission is to promote economic development and social well-being of people worldwide. It collects and analyzes data from each of the member countries on a wide range of social, economic and health-related topics. The following international perspective offers insight into how the health of the United States compares with the health of its peers in key measures of population health. This analysis compares with OECD member countries with the top U.S. state, bottom state and national average for three health measures: infant mortality, obesity and life expectancy. Results show the United States has a higher infant mortality rate, a higher prevalence of obesity and a lower life expectancy compared with most OECD member countries. Even the top U.S. state in each of these measures ranks low among member countries. INFANT MORTALITY Over the past 50 years, improvements in the U.S. infant mortality rate has not kept pace with improvements in other OECD countries. Today, the average rate of infant mortality among OECD countries is 3.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. At 5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, the United States ranks No. 33 out of 36 OECD countries (Figure 24). Japan (No. 1) has the lowest rate with 1.9 deaths per 1,000 live births. Turkey (No. 35) and Mexico (No. 36) have the highest infant mortality rates of OECD countries at 9.2 and 12.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively. Massachusetts is the top U.S. state with 3.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, on par with Denmark (No. 25). The bottom-ranked state, Mississippi, has an infant mortality rate of 8.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is 2.3 times higher than the OECD average and the U.S. state with the lowest rate. http://www...eport/international-comparison Infant death rates are noticeably higher 3.8 vs 5.8. But being next to Mexico with its 12.1 is where I would look first and go from there.
Habebe Member	Mon Sep 20 08:24:08 shit, I didn't meam for the list of states to copy... So here is a lot of Euro data, like a ton. http://ec....cy_statistics#Number_of_deaths
Habebe Member	Mon Sep 20 08:29:41 http://www.worlddata.info/life-expectancy.php Here are some comparisons. Western, Northern and Southern Europe are almost identical.Eastern Europe is about a decade behind though.
Sam Adams Member	Mon Sep 20 09:27:10 "White Americans living in the richest 5 percent of counties still die earlier than Europeans in similarly low-poverty areas" Possible(by a small amount). But its pretty close. Take any numbers from the atlantic with a grain of salt.
Dukhat Member	Mon Sep 20 10:33:09 lol, the Atlantic needs to be taken with a grain of salt but the shit you read that constantly whines about anecdotes about black on white violence is somehow the gold standard. Idiot.
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