http://www.aolnews.com/health/article/s ... 7/19674466
Study: US Hispanics Outlive Whites by 2 Years, Blacks by 7
Updated: 3 hours 14 minutes ago

Mara Gay Contributor
AOL News
(Oct. 14) -- Hispanics living in the United States outlive both black and white Americans, according to a new government study.

Life expectancy for Hispanics in the U.S. is seven years longer than it is for blacks, and two years longer than it is for whites, the report shows. In other words, a child born of Hispanic origin in 2006 can expect to live to about 80; a black child born the same year can expect to live to about 73 and a white child to 78.

The study is the first of its kind to evaluate the life expectancy of Hispanics nationally, and researchers say it further confounds their thinking on health disparities among minorities.

Elizabeth Arias, the author of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, said the higher life expectancy "seems paradoxical," because on average, Hispanics have a lower socioeconomic status than white Americans.

"Given the relationship between socioeconomic status and mortality, a mortality profile similar to that of the non-Hispanic black population would seem more likely for the Hispanic population," she wrote.

Researchers say paradox could be explained by a number of factors. Immigrants, for example, make up a high percentage of the Hispanic population in the United States and are a self-selected group of people who may be healthier, or stronger, on average, than others.

"A lot of the traditional habits and diets from their country of origin tend to be healthier," Manuela McDonough of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy organization, told AOL News today.

But as immigrants begin to assimilate into the broader culture in the United States -- one that includes high rates of obesity -- that advantage may not carry over to second- or third-generation immigrants, some researchers say.

"The American lifestyle is very sedentary. That's not a good thing," Jane Delgado, president of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, told The Associated Press.

And some are treating the results of the study with caution. Gregory Talavera, a researcher and professor at the San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health, said the deaths of Hispanic immigrants are routinely under-counted because they sometimes return home to die.

"A lot of Hispanic Latinos go to the mother country and live out their last days there. So they're epidemiologically immortal. We're not counting them," Talavera told AOL News.

But Talavera, who is working on a long-term study on Hispanic health in the United States, said it may be possible that there is "something protective or good about Latino lifestyle," like lower stress or stronger family structures. He also noted that Hispanics are a diverse group with wide variation among them and said more research was necessary. "Any single study has limitations. It's a complicated subject," he said.
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Did we not JUST hear recently that life in the US is making Mexicans sick and die? Something along those lines. I can't even believe this story anyway. Most Mexicans are diabetic for one.

For the record....I don't like "studies" like these. I think they kind of subliminally promote racism.