Suicides, prescription drug addictions and alcoholism have cut into the life-expectancy gains of non-Hispanic white Americans, according to a new federal report.
Whites still tend to live longer than blacks. But during a 14-year period, the life expectancy of whites increased by just 1.4 years, while the life expectancy of blacks grew by 3.6 years, and that of non-black Hispanics rose by 2.6 years, according to the new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study, released Friday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, examines data between 2000 and 2014. The findings echo a string of similar academic and foundation reports over the last couple of years.
In terms of life spans:
» Whites went from 77.4 years to 78.8 years.
» Non-Hispanic blacks went from 71.6 years to 75.2 years
» Hispanics went from 79.2 years to 81.8 years
The report does not explain the long life span of Hispanics.
But as for white life expectancy, researchers said it eroded because of a complex combination of social, educational and economic factors, particularly among whites with little education. Those factors include diminished economic prospects, prescription drug abuse and unemployment.
Death rates for whites from conditions such as cancer, stroke, heart disease and pneumonia actually declined during the 14-year period. There was also a drop in the rate of death from vehicular and unintentional firearms accidents.
But those positives were offset by the dire negatives of suicide, chronic liver disease, and unintentional injuries or poisonings, the CDC/NCHS study found.
“In fact, for the first time in over 20 years, life expectancy declined by 0.1 years for the non-Hispanic white population between 2013 and 2014,” the authors of the CDC/NCHS study wrote.
For whites between the ages of 45 and 54, unintentional accidents or poisonings increased by a staggering 73.5 percent. And suicide death rates for that age group were up by 57.5 percent, the CDC/NCHS study found.
Late-middle-age whites have been the focus of intense study, particularly by two Princeton University researchers, Angus Deaton and Anne Case. In a report published last year, Deaton and Case found mortality rates for less-educated, middle-aged whites had increased by 22 percent between 1999 and 2013.
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