WEDNESDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Hispanic individuals in the United States live an average 2.5 years longer than non-Hispanic white individuals and 7.7 years longer than non-Hispanic black individuals, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report United States Life Tables by Hispanic Origin, 2006, which was released today.
Elizabeth Arias, Ph.D., of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, compiled 2006 data from death certificates issued in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and outlying U.S. territories under the National Vital Statistics System. Life expectancy for Hispanics, non-Hispanic whites, and non-Hispanic blacks was analyzed and compared.
Life expectancy at birth was 77.7 years for the total U.S. population in 2006. The average life expectancy for a Hispanic person at birth was 80.6 years, compared with 78.1 for non-Hispanic whites and 72.9 for non-Hispanic blacks. Hispanic females had a higher life expectancy at birth than Hispanic males (83.1 vs. 77.9). The corresponding figures were 80.4 for non-Hispanic white females, 75.6 for non-Hispanic white males, 76.2 for non-Hispanic black females, and 69.2 for non-Hispanic black males.
"Although seemingly paradoxical, these results are consistent with the findings of numerous studies which show a Hispanic mortality advantage despite this population's lower socioeconomic status," the author writes.
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