BOSTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A Harvard study of U.S. mortality rates says years of efforts have failed to narrow the gap in the life spans of the healthiest and the least healthy.
The study based on eight demographic groups found that the healthiest among Americans have life spans about 30 years longer than the least healthy.
The findings published in the Public Library of Science Medicine says an Asian American women living in Bergen County, N.J., has an average life expectancy of 91 years, compared to 58 for American Indians in South Dakota, reports The Los Angeles Times.
The contributing factors for this difference are tobacco, alcohol, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diet and physical inactivity, study leader Dr. Christopher J. L. Murray told the Times. "They also give us some hints about the types of public health and medical care interventions that could make a difference in these disparities."
The study said Hawaii is the healthiest state with a combined life span for men and women of 80 years. The District of Columbia is the worst, with a life expectancy of 72 years.
