Want To Live To A Ripe Old Age? Here's A Tip!
By Thomas D. Segel (09/19/06)
Harlingen, Texas, September 18, 2006: A recent article in a local newspaper has provided some serious food for thought. If we brag about the findings or a study...will it alter those same findings? What I am referring to is research completed by Harvard University that pinpoints the Rio Grande Valley as the locale with the longest longevity in Texas and perhaps the United States.
One thing people are always interested in is a thing called “life-span”. Those who study the differences in life expectancy are always able to tell society that huge differences in life span can be found from one sector of the country to another. What they can never explain is why the differences in life expectancy cannot be explained by race, income, life style or access to health care.
For example, in the United States it has been found that Asians, averaging 85 years, live longer than Americans of African ethnicity who live to age 71.
Low income Whites from Minnesota and the Dakotas average 79 years and live longer than the 214 million people who make up the heart of our population and have a life expectancy of 78 years. However, if we compare the life spans of those low-income white residents of the Dakotas with the life span of Native Americans from the same region everything becomes distorted. That group of Whites at 79 years is 21 years longer than the 58-year life span of the Native American. Locale cannot be a factor, income is not a factor, and the Native Americans of that region have even more access to health care.
So, lets take a look at geography. Those with the longest longevity in the United States reside in Hawaii. People in that state have an average life expectancy of 80 years. The people of Minnesota are next with 78.8 years, followed by Connecticut and Utah with 78.7 years and California with 78.2 years.
At the bottom of the longevity list are those who make their homes in Mississippi, who average 73.6 years and in very last place, Washington D.C. that posts a 72 year life expectancy.
This brings us full circle to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, specifically the two southernmost counties in the state...Hidalgo and Cameron. Those who live in Hidalgo County may be the national winners of the life span lottery. The average life expectancy there is 80.2 years. In neighboring Cameron County that life expectancy is 80.1 years.
Now this is in a region of the United States that boasts a population that is more than 80% Hispanic. It is also one of the most economically depressed areas of the country and has reduced access to health care for those of lower economic means. The region has a very high rate of diabetes and obesity.
So, why do people live longer in the Rio Grande Valley? According to the Harvard study, “The observed disparities in life expectancy cannot be explained by race, income or basic health care access and utilization alone.”
Local residents seem to think their longevity has a lot to do with the safety net provided by strong family ties that exist throughout the region. Added to that is the reduced stress of life in the Valley. People tend to have a “manana” attitude about many things. “We just take things slower here,” says retiree James Sharp. “By the time we finish saying ‘good mornin’, it is already ‘good afternoon’,” he concludes.
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