| What
is the greatest difference in life expectancy observed between
counties in the U.S.? Click on your answer below. |
Your Health Equity IQ
Correct: 0 Incorrect: 0 |
4 years difference
An American citizen’s zip code is
a strong indicator of their health. A recent study of “Eight Americas” (comparing
different groups within the country) found a 14.7 year gap in life
expectancies at birth between the longest and shortest-lived counties.(1)
These differences become even starker between subgroups – for example, Asian American women in Bergen County, New Jersey, live 33 years longer than Native American men in South Dakota. Health expert Sir Michael Marmot noted that on a subway ride from southeast Washington, D.C. (an impoverished African American neighborhood) to Montgomery County, Maryland (an affluent white suburb), life expectancy of the surrounding communities rises about a year and a half for every mile traveled –amounting to a 20-year gap.(2) Sources:
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