According to the Department of epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational health, statistics have shown that in the United States there has been a significant decline in the difference between the life expectancy of a black versus a white person. Using novel statistical techniques, researchers conducted a study from the death certificates and estimated populations of each state to come up with the basis for the calculation of life expectancies of people based on which state they're staying in. The state that had the least gap between racial life expectancies was in New York, while Wisconsin was found to have the highest.
This research was conducted with the knowledge that the differences in the life expectancy between white and black people in the United States have always been a deep-rooted issue when it came to public health. Many people believe in that the differences are signs of a deeper inequality that may still exist between races in this society.
According to Sam Harper of the faculty of Medicine at the McGill University in Montreal, Canada who has played an integral part in this research, "We want to know how to reduce these differences. Given that many social and health policies are implemented at the state level, looking at how specific states have fared can provide important clues for addressing these health inequalities. Our results should be of particular interest to state public health officials focused on reducing racial differences in health."
This study was launched after a 2013 report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC found that the life expectancy of white people was far more favorable than that of black people in every state in the United States, except for New Mexico and Nevada. It was also stated in this report that Iowa had the largest difference between life expectancies, with white people expected to outlive black people by up to 7.8 years. This report also revealed that lifestyle behaviors, environmental factors, and access to good healthcare were some of the most influential variables that impact life expectancy across the different states in the country.
