U.S. life expectancy has been declining. How long can Iowans expect to live?
U.S. life expectancy has been declining and the most recently available data shows it's been going down in Iowa, too.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that as of 2020 Iowans could on average live to be 77.5 years of age, which is equal to the U.S. average.
Iowa's life expectancy fell nearly two years between 2019 and 2020, which was reflective of an overall drop in life expectancy nationwide. In 2019, Iowa's life expectancy was 79 years.
Health experts have primarily attributed significant drops in U.S. life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 to COVID-19 and a spike in drug overdose deaths driven by an influx of the synthetic opioid fentanyl in the illicit drug market.
Here are a few things to know about life expectancy:
What are the leading causes of death in Iowa?
According to 2021 data from the CDC, here are Iowa's top 5 leading causes of death:
Heart disease
Cancer
COVID-19
Accidents
Chronic lower respiratory diseases
Which state has the longest expectancy?
The state with the longest life expectancy in 2020 was Hawaii at 80.7 years and the lowest was Mississippi at 71.9 years, the CDC data says. Arizona ranked 32nd.
States immediately behind Hawaii were Washington in second place at 79.2 years, Minnesota in third at 79.1 years and California, Massachusetts and New Hampshire tied for fourth place with a life expectancy of 79 years.
Indigenous and Black people in the U.S. have shorter lives
American Indian and Alaska Native people had a life expectancy of 65.2 years in 2021, which is equal to the life expectancy of the total U.S. population in 1944, provisional CDC data says. The life expectancy of American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S declined by 6.6 years from 2019 to 2021, the CDC data says.
The provisional data from 2021 said the life expectancy for Black people was 70.8 years compared with 76.4 years for white people and 77.7 years for Hispanic people. It was highest for Asian people at 83.5 years, the data says.
Lifespan in the U.S. is linked to economic status
Much has been written about a decline in U.S. life expectancy, which began prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some experts point to vast differences in life expectancy depending on one's income or ZIP code, which suggests U.S. social and economic policies are at least in part to blame, particularly in comparison to other developed countries where such disparities are not as stark.
Research that emerged between 2010 and 2020 showed strong correlations between longer life expectancies in wealthier ZIP codes, where there's also often better access to high performing schools, stable housing, quality health care and safe neighborhoods.
National data shows further life expectancy declines in 2021.
National data shows the U.S. life expectancy fell again in 2021 to 76.4 years. State-specific data on life expectancy for 2021 from the CDC is not expected to be available until next year.
In Iowa, COVID-19 deaths peaked in 2020 and have been declining. CDC data reports 4,769 deaths involving COVID-19 in 2020, 3,526 in 2021 and 2,242 in 2022.
Drug overdose deaths in Iowa increased in 2021 to 475 compared to 432 in 2020.
U.S. life expectancy is lower than other wealthy countries
Life expectancy in the U.S. as of 2021 was 76.4 years. Expected lifespans are longer in most other industrialized countries. Life expectancy in the Macao and Hong Kong areas of China is 85, in Japan it's 84, in Canada it's 83 and in the United Kingdom it's 81, according to data from the World Bank.
Among high-income countries, the U.S. has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions, the highest maternal and infant mortality rates, and among the highest suicide rates, a Jan. 31 issue brief from the private, New York-based Commonwealth Fund says.
"For the U.S., a first step to improvement is ensuring that everyone has access to affordable care," authors Munira Gunja, Evan Gumas and Reginald Williams II wrote. "Not only is the U.S. the only country we studied that does not have universal health coverage, but its health system can seem designed to discourage people from using services."
In 1980, the U.S. and comparable countries had similar life expectancies and health spending, but the trends have diverged in the last few decades, according to an Oct. 12 analysis jointly published by the Peterson Center on Health Care and KFF, which are both nonprofit health policy research organizations.
Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez is a general assignment reporter for the Register. Reach her at vreynarodriguez@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter @VictoriaReynaR.
Stephanie Innes is a health reporter for the Arizona Republic. Reach her at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @stephanieinnes.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Iowan's life expectancy declines as does the national average
