Life expectancy in the country is at its highest level at 77.9 years, according to the CDC’s just-released National Vital Statistics Report. Broken out by race and gender, as in previous years, life expectancy remains higher among whites compared to blacks, and higher for women than for men. The report does not contain equivalent figures for other racial minorities.
However, accompanied by a caution that mortality for races other than white and black may be seriously understated because of underreporting, the preliminary findings reveal the mortality rates are lowest for those other groups. Also, the death rates reported for the Asian Pacific Islander (API) population is almost half lower the rate of non-Hispanic whites.
However, accompanied by a caution that mortality for races other than white and black may be seriously understated because of underreporting, the preliminary findings reveal the mortality rates are lowest for those other groups. Also, the death rates reported for the Asian Pacific Islander (API) population is almost half lower the rate of non-Hispanic whites.
“Among the major race and Hispanic origin groups, the lowest mortality was reported for the API, Hispanic, and AIAN populations. Compared with the non-Hispanic white population, preliminary age-adjusted death rates were 46.5 percent lower for the API population, 30.8 percent lower for the Hispanic population, and 18.4 percent lower for the AIAN population. In contrast, the age-adjusted death rate for the non-Hispanic black population was 25.5 percent higher than that for the non-Hispanic white population."These findings should not feed into the “model minority” myth, specifically the one that suggests we are without problems or needs thus leading us to be underserved in areas of real concern. According to the CDC profile of Asian Americans:
“Asian Americans represent both extremes of socioeconomic and health indices: while more than a million Asian Americans live at or below the federal poverty level, Asian-American women have the highest life expectancy of any other group. Asian Americans suffer disproportionately from certain types of cancer, tuberculosis, and Hepatitis B. Factors contributing to poor health outcomes for Asian Americans include language and cultural barriers, stigma associated with certain conditions, and lack of health insurance.”See related post: “Cancer remains the number one killer among Asian Americans“
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