Americans lose month from life expectancy

Americans lose month from life expectancy
Researchers need more data before declaring a trend
Friday, December 10, 2010 02:52 AM
By Stephanie Nano
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK – U.S. life expectancy has dropped slightly – by about a month – after mostly inching up for many years, the government reported yesterday. The preliminary report indicates that a baby born in 2008 can expect to live to 77.8 years if current trends continue. That’s down from the high of 77.9 years for 2007. A similar dip occurred in 2005, and life expectancy also dropped in 1993. The lead author of the report, Arialdi Minino, called the 2008 change minuscule and said it would take years of data to determine whether that’s a trend. Life expectancy was down for both men and women. The gap between blacks and whites closed a little, to a 4.6-year difference in life expectancy; black men for the first time topped 70 years. Overall, women continue to live longer, until about 80, compared with 75 for men. “It’s something to keep our eyes on,” said Ken Thorpe, a health-policy professor at Emory University in Atlanta. He suggested that it could be related to rising obesity rates’¦ http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2010/12/10/americans-losemonth-from-life-expectancy.html