After a significant drop during the pandemic, US life expectancy should recover to 2019 levels this year in the nation and in 26 states, but new research shows that it is not always compared to similar countries .

Despite the technology bringing major advances in diseases such as cancer and heart disease, bad habits such as junk food, smoking and illegal drug use are more likely to be more likely to be more likely to be It hinders long lifespan.

By 2050, the average life expectancy in the US is expected to increase to 80.4 years old to 79.1 years old for babies born that year, a slight improvement that drops the US. Behind almost every other high-income countryaccording to the survey.

Poverty and inadequate health insurance have slowed progress in some states. A wealthier, more urban and educated states are likely to adopt gun-saving policies, potentially adopting income support to younger mothers, from curbing gun access. will be higher. Ten states that have affected the longest lifespan of babies born this year (all but North Dakota) are controlled by Democrats, with all 10 expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. All 10 states with the shortest life expectancy are controlled by Republicans (Kentucky has a Democratic governor).

Stateline analysis of data from this study shows how some states rose and some fell in terms of life expectancy.

In 1990, for example, New York and West Virginia were nearly tied to the state’s average life expectancy rankings at 39 and 41. However, the two have since gone on a sudden and different path. New York rose to third place in 2024, and is projected to have the longest life expectancy in a state passing through Hawaii and Massachusetts by 2050.

West Virginia will only overtake Mississippi in 2024, and is projected to be the last state in 2050.

New York reduces harm to the availability of excellent healthcare in New York City hospitals and strict gun laws that curtail suicides and control overdose deaths through supervised use sites and other controversial programs. It benefits from the policy, Brett Harris said. President of the New York State Public Health Association and associate professor at the Faculty of Health Policy at the University of Albany.

Harris said he wouldn’t be surprised that New York State would fall from 33 to 41 to 41 if it was ranked as a nation, despite being promoted to the state’s average lifespan. According to the analysis.

“I think part of that is how individualistic we are in this country, and how we always try to move forward compared to other countries’ community-based environments,” Harris said. I did. “Their social policies tend to be better for health outcomes. If you live in an individualistic environment and more family environment that builds more support.”

West Virginia’s sparse population and rural poverty make healthcare difficult. Brian Huggins, the health director for Monongaria County, West Virginia, also has difficulty gaining past community and political skepticism about health measures. Huggins has worked with health officials in other counties to defend stricter smoking ban laws and maintain school vaccination orders in the face of opposition.

“It hurts to see West Virginia ranked at the bottom. Huggins said we are a state we are proud of,” he said, and the average life expectancy there is a young, healthy population. He added that it is also hampered by a lack of economic opportunities to escape. Many concerns include the lack of sidewalks that make healthy walking more dangerous, and a vegetable-free diet culture. Both promote obesity.

Huggins has also looked at the conditions overseas. While stationed for US troops in Germany, he has generously healthy for Germans, including two-week retreats with massages and sauna baths for those who feel stressed or burned out at work. I saw the clause.

“Their goal in Germany is that they want you back to work. Huggins said, “On the other hand, they have created a tax system to support this.” You pay 18% tax on everything you buy there. That’s not necessarily something that Americans accept.” Important German Tax, currently 19% Applies to most products and services.

Life expectancy has declined for the second year in a row during the Covid-19 pandemic. This marks the national decline from 2019 to 2020 to 79.1 to 77.3 years. The forecast says the recovery will not be complete until this year. It is predicted that the progress will be slow until 2050.

Some of the fastest states recovering from the pandemic are North Dakota, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where life expectancy was achieved between 2019 and 2024. The 24 states have yet to recover their 2019 life expectancy.

The non-state District of Columbia has a lower life expectancy than all 50 states in 1990, but ranks 23rd this year. Washington said the improvements in DC were, at least in part, due to an influx of wealthier, more educated people since 1990.

Most states in the top 10 in 1990 were dropped: Colorado (7-11), Iowa (4-17), Kansas (8-36), Nebraska (9-9) 19), South Dakota (No. 10-21) and Utah (No. 2-12 to 12);

Here are the top ten newest things in 2024 compared to 1990: Massachusetts (13-2-2), New York (39-3-3-3 mentioned), California (24-4-4), New Jersey (No. 26-6), Rhode Island (No. 19-8), and Washington State (14-10).

Mokdad said concentration in cities is important for longevity.

“I’m very close to the hospital [in Seattle] And I have health insurance. But does that apply to everyone in Washington? You may live a few hours from Seattle, so even people at my income and education level, it’s not the same,” Mokdad said.

Quality care and insurance are also important to ensure that issues such as obesity and hypertension are recognized and controlled, Mokdad said.

“There are a significant increase in obesity in many regions, especially in the southern states, and smoking is declining in areas rich in smoking, and in other communities, which explains a lot of these. [state differences] – What we call preventable risk factors,” Mokdad said.

“Life expectancy is on the rise, but many people are still left behind,” Mokdad said.

Even in urban areas, racial minority groups and women can find themselves in poor conditions where they can shorten both their lives and their children’s lives. One report With the same Lancet issue, this month focuses on Michigan’s majority Black Flint program, with doctors prescribing money for women from the late pregnancy to the first year of their child’s life.

The program, launched this year, is the first in the country to mimic some of the other 140 countries offering cash subsidies for child health, according to the article. With the success of similar temporary child tax credits early in the pandemic, other states have Adopt or expand your own tax credits For a young mother.

“We know more and more that what happens in early childhood can affect life expectancy,” said Dr. Mona Hanna, a Flint pediatrician who founded a program called RX Kids. It relies on state support in the form of permits to use federal funds.

Michigan state is included $20 million in state budget For next year, the program will expand to other cities and mostly white country counties in the state’s Upper Peninsula. The program grants pregnant mothers $1,500 plus $500 a month in the first year of their baby’s life.

“This is a concrete solution to conquering these location-based disparities and inequality,” Hanna said. “The stress born from poverty can lead to immaturity and low birth weight, etc. Moms are likely to be stressed, and there are probably smoke. I see it every day. My family doesn’t have transportation. You can’t reach the doctor. They are too expensive and have a hard time eating healthy foods.”

Darren Liu, a health policy professor at the Department of Public Health at West Virginia University, said rural West Virginia could benefit from similar programs. .

To increase access to care for rural residents, the state needs to expand telehealth, deploy more mobile clinics and provide student loan forgiveness to rural health workers, Liu said He told Stateline via email.

Huggins, a county health officer in West Virginia, said money was a problem. New federal guidelines This requires insured patients to receive many health screenings for free. Although low-income patients are often screened, they cannot afford to treat disability conditions such as knee and lower back pain.

“Because of the barriers that insurers have held back, they have to be profitable, so I think that’s another reason why West Virginia ranks low,” Huggins said. “That’s a barrier we’re trying to understand. Right now, almost all insurance coverage is well over $1,000.”

(Stateline) It is a nonprofit news network that is part of the state newsroom and supports a coalition of grants and donors as a public charity of 501C(3). Stateline maintains editorial independence. For questions, please contact editor Scott S. Greenberger. [email protected]. )