Despite huge medical advances, people in seven US states are dying younger than 30 years ago.
And the data only goes up to just before the Covid pandemic in 2020, meaning the situation could be even worse than thought.
The life expectancy has fallen by one year for women since 1995 in Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
And while there were no drops for men, rates stayed the same in West Virginia, New Mexico and Kentucky.
In New York and California, by comparison, men and women are living eight to nine years longer than older generations.
And in Idaho and Washington DC, people are living an extra 12 years compared to their older relatives born in the 1960s.
The findings show while the average life expectancy nationwide has gone up 10 percent, surges in chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes, plus rising drug overdose deaths, have left states across the south with fewer older adults.
Yale researchers behind the figures believe the findings will help determine which states are in dire need of better funding and disease-lowering programs.
They wrote: ‘Understanding how mortality patterns vary by birth cohort within each state can inform decision-making around resource allocation and public health interventions.’
The average life expectancy in the US is 80 for women and 74 for men.
The study, published Monday in JAMA Network Open, collected mortality data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and calculated the number of deaths that occurred between 1969 and 2020.
This resulted in 179million deaths in all 50 states and Washington DC.
Though life expectancy for men increased in most states, rates stayed the same as the 1990s for men in West Virginia, New Mexico and Kentucky.
Men in West Virginia lived to 70 in both 1995 and 2020. The same was true for Kentucky.
In New Mexico, men lived to 72 in 1995 and 2020.
And women in Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas and Oklahoma all saw drops from the 1990s.
In Mississippi, for example, the life expectancy for women dropped from 76 to 75. West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Alabama each saw a drop from 77 to 76.
While it’s unclear exactly why these states saw decreases, the researchers suggested it could be due to increasing rates of poverty and chronic disease.
For example, Mississippi is the poorest state in the US and has the lowest median household income per year.
The average household brings home $48,716 before taxes, according to World Population Review, significantly lower than the national average of $80,610.
Poverty limits access to healthy foods, medications and regular doctor’s appointments, increasing the risk of developing chronic conditions like obesity and heart disease.
According to the latest CDC data, Mississippi has the second-highest rate of heart disease deaths behind Oklahoma.
And West Virginia has consistently topped the charts for rates of chronic disease. More than half of West Virginia’s residents are obese, for example, and it has the nation’s highest smoking rate of 23 percent.
The average life expectancy in the US is 77. Women have an average life expectancy of 80 while men are expected to live to 74
On the other end of the spectrum, Washington DC saw the greatest improvement in life expectancy from 1969 to 2020, jumping from 70 to 80 years for women and 61 to 73 for men.
This could be due in part to Washington DC having the country’s lowest obesity rate of 23 percent. Additionally, the researchers wrote the city’s small population could make it more sensitive to statistical changes.
The city of 678,000 is also entirely urban, giving it increased access to healthy foods and healthcare.
The team also calculated the number of years it would take in each state for the death rate of people over 35 to double.
This measures how quickly the mortality rate increases with age. The shorter the rate, the faster death rates surge.
In Iowa, the death rate for women doubles at age 43, the fastest rate in the study.
In Washington DC, however, the rate doubles for women starting at age 47, the study’s slowest rate.
Overall, Mississippi had the lowest life expectancy in 2020 for both men and women. The average age for men was 69, while women lived to 76.
Following closely behind for both sexes was West Virginia with 70 years for men and 76 for women.
For women, Kentucky and Alabama tied for third-lowest life expectancy at 76.4 years. Arkansas and Oklahoma rounded out the top five, tying for a life expectancy of 77 years.
For men, Alabama and Louisiana both had a life expectancy of 70 years. Kentucky rounded out the top five with a life expectancy of 71 years.
Meanwhile, Hawaii had the highest life expectancy for both sexes with 84 years for women and 77 for men.
This could be due to low rates of chronic disease. The Aloha state had the second-lowest heart disease mortality rate in 2022, for example, behind Minnesota.
And Hawaii has the third-lowest obesity rate of 26 percent, outranked only by Colorado and Washington DC.
There were several limitations of the study, including a lack of data on how Covid may have altered the average life expectancy.
