This from Reuters:
“Average life expectancy in the United States rose to a record 77.6 years in 2003 from 77.3 years in 2002, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although women on average still lived longer than men in 2003 -- 80.1 years versus 74.8 years -- the gender gap in mortality narrowed, continuing a 25-year trend, the CDC said in a report…
Chief among them were significant declines in mortality from heart disease, cancer and stroke, the three biggest killers. Death rates for these conditions fell between 2.2 percent and 4.6 percent…
Lower death rates from HIV, drug and alcohol abuse and use of firearms also helped boost life expectancy.
There were 2,443,930 deaths in 2003, according to the CDC data, which is preliminary. The overall death rate fell 1.7 percent from 2002 when adjusted to account for changes in the age distribution of the population.”
But the CDC has cautioned that the current so-called obesity epidemic could reverse the trend. As a nation, we are now fatter than ever.
The moral of the story…STEP AWAY FROM THE SALAD AND STEP UP TO THE BURRITO. You’ll live longer.
