Life expectancy is declining for American women, according to a recent CBS report—and it’s mostly due to preventable disease.
In the 60s, American women were likely to be the longest-living women in the world, CBS reported, but in 2017 they fall two and a half years short of other developed nations’ life expectancies. And, whereas women were predicted to live nine to 10 years longer than men a few generations ago, that number has dropped to four or five.
“While U.S. life expectancy is now the lowest among ... high-income nations, the discrepancy is especially stark for women,” officials at the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) said, according to CBS.
Illnesses associated with smoking and obesity are among the greatest to blame for this decline, the CRR said. While the U.S. does better than most nations in treating cancer and heart disease, “the U.S. is now a ‘plus-size’ nation,” CBS reported, and with added weight comes added disease risk.
“Today, being overweight is the greatest enemy, especially for women,” CBS wrote.
Read the full report below:
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.