A half century ago Missouri residents enjoyed a life expectancy similar to the national average. But a study by the Missouri Hospital Association shows Missourians now can only count on a life span that has dropped nearly a year below the national average for both men and women. Today's Missouri male resident has a life expectancy of 72.9 years, compared to the U.S. average of 73.8 years for men. The state's female population should expect to live to be 78.6, nine months briefer than the national average for women. As the association's study notes, the U.S. rate is hardly a life expectancy record, ranking only 24th among 191 countries studied.
Japan has the world's best longevity average followed by Australia and then France.
Other discoveries in the study, including the fact that for several reasons Missourians living in urban settings live longer than their rural counterparts, point out health variances in gender, race and ethnicity, income and education, disabilities and sexual orientation. Missouri males have higher death rates than females for each of the 10 leading causes of death, while the infant death rate among African-Americans remains double that of whites. Noting differences between rural and urban Missourians, the study reports that injury-related death rates are 40 percent greater in the outstate population than metropolitan areas. Heart disease, cancer and diabetes rates in rural areas exceed those in urban regions. Authors of the report suggest that rural residents are less likely to use preventive screening services, exercise regularly or wear seat belts.