Children born today can expect to live longer than any previous generation in U.S. history, according preliminary government data released Wednesday.
Life expectancy at birth increased to 78.2 years in 2009, up from 78 in 2008.
“This is a new record high for life expectancy,” says Kenneth Kochanek, a statistician with the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Coincidentally, a report here in London in today’s Daily Telegraph says that life expectancy in the UK is greater than in the US, and that the gap is growing, despite the fact that the US spends nearly twice as much on healthcare:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8388331/Britons-enjoy-longer-lives-than-Americans.html
Interesting especially that the gap is larger among women, and one reason for this is that US women are more likely to be smokers.
Wow – I knew that life expectancies were low in the US but I hadn’t realised they were THAT low. What is wrong?