A new study finds that although life expectancy in the U.S. as a whole has continued to rise steadily over the last twenty years, for women it has actually declined in 313 U.S. counties, most in the Southeast, the Southern Midwest and Appalachia.
In contrast, life expectancy for men declined in only six counties, although the study found men in these same areas tended to have worse outcomes than men elsewhere.
Experts have dubbed the findings of the study a public health crisis, as it means that children born today in many parts of the U.S. can expect to live shorter lives than their parents.
The more pronounced decline in women’s life expectancy could be explained by their typically having higher obesity rates and also suffer greater health consequences from obesity than men do, experts say. Others have noted that smoking trends have not declined as quickly for women as they have for men, and that the consequences of beginning smoking in the mid-part of the century may explain more of the disparity.
