Wealth, education help Americans live longer

0 Comments | Insight on the News, August 31, 1998 | by Ruth Larson

A new survey shows a strong relationship between socioeconomic status and good health. For almost every Indicator, higher income and education translates to a longer life.

Advances in health care have boosted the average American's life expectancy to a record 76.1 years, but the poor and less-educated die younger, according to the annual report card on the nation's health released by the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS. The survey also shows declining death rates for many of the leading causes of death, such as heart disease, cancer and firearm wounds.

"This comprehensive report shows the progress we're making," said HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala in a statement accompanying the 460-page report, "but it also documents the strong relationship between socioeconomic status and health in the United States for every race and ethnic group studied."

For almost every indicator, higher education or higher income increased the chances of having better health. Conversely, lower income or education was associated with higher risk factors, such as smoking and obesity. Less-educated adults have higher death rates from all major causes of death, including chronic diseases, communicable disease and injuries.

"Across the board, there was a strong relationship between the socioeconomic status and health indicators" in every age group from infants to the elderly, and in every income category, says Elsie Pamuk, a health researcher at the National Center for Health Statistics, which compiled the report. "Your position on the social ladder, which reflects your economic and social resources, clearly has an impact on your health."

Lower-income and less-educated adults also were less apt to have health insurance or seek preventive health care. "Doing what's necessary to achieve maximum health today is fairly complicated," says Pamuk. "It's easier, the more resources you have." Still, she adds, "we don't want to get too negative, because overall the report shows we're making tremendous progress and we're clearly on the right track.

The report included the following statistics:

* Infant mortality fell to a record low of 7.3 deaths for every 1,000 live births in 1996.

* The number of teen-agers giving birth dropped 12 percent between 1991 and 1996 -- to 54.4 births for every 1,000 women age 15 to 19.

* The long-standing gap between life expectancies for men and women narrowed to just six years -- 79.1 years for women and 73.1 years for men.

* Life expectancy among white Americans is 76.8 years, while life expectancy among black Americans is 70.2 years.

* Cigarette smoking among adults age 25 and over declined from 37.1 percent in 1974 to 24.6 percent in 1995. In 1995, the least-educated men and women were more than twice as likely to smoke as the most-educated.

* The death rate from heart disease, the leading cause of death, dropped by 12 percent from 1990 to 1996.

* The death rate from cancer, the second leading cause of death, dropped by 5 percent from 1990 to 1996, after steadily increasing for the last 20 years.

* Almost 16 percent of the population was without health-care coverage in 1996, compared with 12.9 percent in 1987.