PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New data about life expectancy in the U.S. shows a decline we haven’t seen in more than 100 years.
Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and author of a new report of recommendations to improve life expectancy in America, said the average life expectancy at birth is now 76.1 years. It’s peak was at 78.9 years in 2014.
There are many contributing factors to shortened life expectancy, like one’s environment and demographics, he explained.
“There was a four year drop for Black Americans and more than a six year drop for Indigenous Americans. These numbers…we haven't seen since 1996, when Bill Clinton was president.”
Sharfstein said in the last two years, COVID-19 has been a major driving force in death rates, but it is not the only contributing factor.
Fatal drug overdoses, gun related homicides and suicides, motor vehicle crashes and heart disease are all increasingly sweeping the nation each year, he explained.
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Sharfstein feels that even though there are “some alarming trends out there,” there are ways to prolong life expectancy.
“There are opportunities to save lives all around us, we just have to take them.”
Listen to the full interview here:
