1 minute read

58. Life Expectancy at Birth, Orange County, 2015

Readiness

Racial disparities in health outcomes

Advertisement

One dimension of readiness includes how long we expect people to live once they are born, (i.e. life expectancy at birth). Life expectancy can reflect a wide variety of factors in a person’s environment including access to health care, exposure to pollution, inadequate food environments, and social/financial security.

African Americans and Native Americans have the lowest life expectancy at birth, with the average Black resident living nearly three years less than the county average. For context, though three years may seem short on paper, this length of time is the equivalent to the years that could be gained by eliminating certain prevalent and devastating diseases. For example the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that removing all cancer deaths across the nation would increase average lifespan by 3.2 years.1

1Arias, Elizabeth, Melonie Heron, and Betzaida Tejada-Vera. 2013. United States Life Tables Eliminating Certain Causes of Death, 1999–2001. 9. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Black and Native American populations have lower life expectancies 58. Life Expectancy at Birth, Orange County, 2015

81.8

79.0 80.0 80.8 82.3 84.3

All Black Native American White Latino Asian or Pacific Islander

This article is from: