A study published February 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association points to three reasons for the life expectancy being lower for Americans than in other developed nations. Care to guess what they are?
"Guns, drugs and motor vehicle crashes account for half of the life-expectancy gap between men in the United States and other high-income countries, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association," writes Carolyn Y. Johnson, a reporter covering the business of health for The Washington Post.
The circle chart shows how much each of the causes reduces life expectancy in men:
- Gun violence: 5.4 months
- Drug poisoning, which includes overdoses: 3.6 months
- Motor vehicle crashes: 3.4 months
A corresponding chart points to the same three reasons for lower life expectancy for American women, though the number of months is smaller. Drugs, motor vehicles, and guns, in that order, are the main causes.
The study is significant because American medicine may be focusing on the wrong causes for the lower life expectancy in the United States, "about 2.2 years earlier than their counterparts in a dozen other high-income countries, according to 2012 data," writes Johnson. Traditional health issues such as "chronic disease, obesity, smoking or access to health care" have been its focus.
Gun, drugs, and motor vehicles are by no means strictly American causes of death, but they affect American far more than in other developed nations, so much so that they account for "a full year -- about half of the disadvantage that American men face" in the United States than elsewhere, according to Andrew Fenelon, a researcher with the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and one of three authors of the study.
Credit: CDC, Nov. 21, 2014
In a related Wonkblog piece, Johnson and Christopher Ingraham delve into how gun violence replaced traffic crashes as the leading cause of preventable death.
"The CDC had not touched firearm research since 1996 — when the NRA accused the agency of promoting gun control and Congress threatened to strip the agency’s funding," wrote Todd C. Frankel for The Washington Post last year.
Hat tip to Michael Keenly
FULL STORY: Three very American reasons why we’re still so unhealthy
U.S. Life Expectancy Continues Downward Trend
Drug overdoses and suicides caused American life expectancy to drop in 2017 for the second consecutive year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most notable is the gap between the urban and rural suicide rate.
National Safety Council Reports Huge Jump in 2015 Traffic Fatalities
According to preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council, 38,300 people were killed on U.S. roads in 2015, an 8 percent jump from 2014. In fact, the annual increase is the most in half a century. Note that the figure differs from NHTSA's.
The Messy Politics of Saving Lives from Drug Overdoses
Philadelphia was on the verge of approving a key harm reduction strategy to prevent fatal drug overdoses until the city council all but banned supervised injection sites, overriding a mayoral veto. A New York Times report explores the controversy.
Chicago Red Line Extension Could Transform the South Side
The city’s transit agency is undertaking its biggest expansion ever to finally bring rail to the South Side.
Planetizen’s Top Planning Books of 2023
The world is changing, and planning with it.
Why College Campuses Make Ideal Models for Cities
College campuses serve as ideal models for cities, with their integrated infrastructure, vibrant communities, sustainability initiatives, and innovation hubs inspiring urban planning and development for a brighter future.
Study: Homeless People Face Higher Mortality Risk
Unhoused adults are more than three times as likely to die in any given year as their housed counterparts, research shows.
Study: Equity in Car Share Programs Requires Low Cost, Broad Coverage
Data from a Los Angeles car share program showed its impact on underserved communities was ‘limited by its small footprint.’
The Largest U.S. City Lacking Mass Transit
Arlington, Texas has the dubious distinction of being the largest city in the nation with no fixed-route public transit system.
University of New Mexico - School of Architecture & Planning
Placer County
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC)
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Arizona State University, Ten Across
Park City Municipal Corporation
National Capital Planning Commission
City of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
