Thread: Hispanics outlive black and white Americans

Report: Hispanics outlive black and white Americans

Updated 1h 34m ago
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY

Hispanics live longer than whites or blacks, according to the first life expectancy data for the U.S. Hispanic population, which were released Wednesday.

The research by the National Center for Health Statistics is an important confirmation of the "Hispanic mortality paradox."

On average, Hispanics outlive whites by 2.5 years and blacks by 7.7 years, according to the report. Their life expectancy at birth in 2006 was 80.6 years compared with 78.1 for whites, 72.9 for blacks and 77.7 years for the total population. Asians are not included in the data.

The report shows that the Hispanic population has higher life expectancy at birth and at almost every subsequent age despite a socioeconomic status lower than that of whites.

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"Mortality is very correlated with income, education and health care access," says Elizabeth Arias, author of the report. "You would expect the Hispanic population would have higher mortality," similar to the black population.

The Hispanic paradox has been documented in a series of studies for more than two decades, but this is the first time the government has had enough data to issue national numbers. It wasn't until 1997 that every state had a Hispanic category on death certificates.

Researchers are struggling to explain why Hispanics live longer.

"We don't know," says David Hayes-Baustista, director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. "We thought it was a problem in the data, but we can pretty much say this is real."

Research points to these potential factors:

• Culture and lifestyle. Support from extended family and lower rates of smoking and drinking "may explain it," Arias says.

• Migration. The "healthy migrant effect" argues that healthier people tend to migrate to other countries. Hispanics have migrated heavily to the USA. Others theorize that when immigrants become ill, they might return home and die there.

"I don't think anyone has a great idea," says Carl Haub, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau. "We might want to see what Hispanics are doing and try to emulate them."

Solving the puzzle may help the nation deal with health care issues because Hispanics use health services less — they make fewer doctors visits and spend less time in hospitals, Hayes-Bautista says.

"It's clearly something in the Latino culture," he says. "If this was the 'healthy migrant effect,' we would see it in all immigrant groups. It seems to be something in what Latinos do."

Arias says it will take more research to see whether there are differences between U.S.-born Hispanics and immigrants. Another issue: country of origin.

Mortality rates among Cuban Americans could be different from those among Mexican Americans, who make up about 65% of the Hispanic population in the USA.

"We will eventually crack it," Hayes-Bautista says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/201 ... span_N.htm

Lower rates of drinking? They obviously didn't use the Mexican construction workers. Back when the economy was good, they would drive around in vans with open containers. Many I saw drank like fish.

Well sure. Elderly illegal Mexicans have free health care whenever they want it. Elderly Americans have Medicare - recently cut by 1/2 trillion dollars by Obamacare.

Start treating Americans as well as you treat illegals and we might live longer too. It would be wonderful to be able to live in nice new low-income housing, real close to downtown so I can cruise around in my new SUV since I don't have to work. All those anchor babies I had bring in some real money, and we're all healthy because we get free healthcare.

Why not spend some bucks on why Americans die sooner?

Mexicans in the U.S. live longer because in Mexico the drug cartels would kill them.

Stress will kill you as sure as a bullet, and these lawless individuals are stress free, or they wouldn't drive around drunk and do all the rest the crap they do. Jail means nothing to these people they'll be back out by the time they sober up. We Americans have the weight of the world cast upon us "Help, save us from ourselves" I wonder if this study was done on mexican Americans or mexicans in mexico. I'd live longer if I had my job back "KEEPERS OF THE DEAD"