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New York's Hale and Hearty Tribe
By
Michelle O'Donell Anyone who handles the daily stress of New York must have been surprised to hear the latest news. The city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported last week that since 1991, the life expectancy of residents has increased by more than five years, to a historically high average of 77.6 years. That level surpasses the national average by six months. (Women in New York live an average of 80.2 years, men 74.5.) Such news, in a city whose homicide rate once inspired "N.Y.P.D. Blue" and "Law and Order," can be oddly disconcerting to those who take civic pride from weathering urban hardship. All segments of the population showed gains. African-American men, for example, now live an average of nine years longer than they did in 1990 (largely because of decreases in the city's homicide rate and H.I.V.-related deaths), although they are still likely to die about six years younger than white men. The study also found that the city's infant mortality rate continued to decline in 2001, with 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, down from 6.7 deaths in 2000 and 11.4 in 1991. What accounts for this good news? Certainly, more police officers on the street and advances in AIDS treatment help. But New Yorkers, being New Yorkers, also put their own spin on it. New York life is challenging, but eventually provides its reward in the twilight years, said Mitchell L. Moss, director of the Taub Urban Research Center at New York University. He listed a trifecta of New York characteristics that contribute to a long life expectancy: density (you're surrounded by neighbors, and medical research proves that people with friends live longer), an elaborate system of public and private health care (your doctor is probably just down the block) and extensive mass transit (you're safer in a subway than in a car). All in all, more bragging rights for a city that brags all the time. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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