New Study Connects Longevity To Geography

This study by Dr. Christopher Murray of the Harvard School of Public Health, contends that where one lives, combined with race and income, plays a large role in the nation's health disparities. Millions of the worst-off Americans have life expectancies typical of developing countries. Surprisingly, it is not the wealthiest, whitest Americans who will live the longest. Instead, look to the low-income residents of the rural Northern Plains states, where the men tend to reach age 76 and the women 82. At the extremes, the study found: "Asian-American women living in Bergen County, N.J., lead the nation in longevity, typically reaching their 91st birthdays. Worst off are American Indian men in swaths of South Dakota, who die around age 58 -- three decades sooner."

Richard Suzman of the National Institute on Aging, which co-funded the research, explains: "It's not just low income. It's what people eat, it's how they behave, or simply what's available in supermarkets."