5 ms·
"Low-income residents in wealthy areas, such as New York City and San Francisco, have life expectancies significantly longer than those in poorer regions." Tha
by mdemare 11y ago
"Low-income residents in wealthy areas, such as New York City and San Francisco, have life expectancies significantly longer than those in poorer regions."
That's somewhat surprising. I wonder if the reverse holds - do rich people in poorer regions have shorter life expectancies than in richer regions?
- manibatra 11y agoCould be. Richer regions would have better health care, emergency services, sanitation, etc
- jpadkins 11y agobeyond basic healthcare, better healthcare has surprisingly low effect on life spans.
- nappy-doo 11y agodo you have a citation? This seems like an incredible result, and I would love to hear more!
- coldtea 11y agoI've seen it established too, though I don't have the citation either. But doesn't seem too "incredible", it's mostly the typical notion of "diminishing returns" we see everywhere.
- dschiptsov 11y agoObviously rich could afford fresh, non-junk food, less toxic environments, better ecology (less polluted, less crowded areas with better water sources - less infections, less hazards, etc). Mere environment matters a lot. Update: What is wrong with that? Look how rich segregate themselves and where they used to live. Also ask any sociologist or comparative historian.
- yummyfajitas 11y agoSince two replies to this comment suggest the underlying cause might be " less toxic environments, better ecology (less polluted, less crowded areas - less infections, less harards, etc)" and " better health care", the answer is no. According to the original paper, life expectancy in the lowest quartile "were not significantly correlated with access to medical care, physical environmental factors, income inequality, or labor market conditions." https://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2513561 https://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2513561 The big correlates seem to be income and behavior (e.g. smoking, obesity).
- adrr 11y agoBehavior has to be the biggest. If we look outside the US and populations known for longevity we see exercise and lower caloric correlations. Looking at studies surrounding exercise, even simply walking 30 minutes every day leads to better quality life in terms of health including preventing cognitive decline. Exercise is also associated with preventing the shortening of telomeres which scientist believe are connected with aging.
- akgerber 11y agoNew York City and San Francisco are also some of the most urban and mass transit-oriented areas of the US, which means walking is a default part of one's life instead of a leisure activity— getting through one's daily life means walking at least half an hour, and easily more. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/upshot/poor-new-yorkers-tend-to-live-longer-than-other-poor-americans.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/upshot/poor-new-yorkers-te...