Community Corner

Hartford County Women Living Longer than Women in Neighboring Tolland County

The trend did not hold true for local men.

By Heather Martino

Compared with neighboring Tolland County, Hartford County men have an average life expectancy two years shorter than their Tolland County peers, while local women’s life expectancy is about a year longer than those in Tolland County.

However, both men and women in Hartford County have extended their average life spans by at least a couple of years compared to data from 1985.

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Using the map above, you can see how Hartford County residents compare with the rest of Connecticut and the nation.

Across the country, people are also living longer than ever, according to a new study from the University of Washington, which analyzed life expectancy rates for both men and women from 1985-2010.

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Throughout the US, major improvements in life expectancy occurred in areas with large metropolises, like parts of California, Nevada, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Iowa, New York and Virginia. But the disparity is widening, with counties in Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama seeing declines or stagnations in residents’ average age of death.

Researchers also found that women were living longer than men in every county in 2010. But men are catching up, having adding 5.3 years to their lives since 1985, while women only added 3.

Even more worrisome is that 45% of women in counties nationwide are dying younger now or at the same rate than they were in 1985. So while men are living longer in counties across the country, women are remaining stagnant in much of the country.

“As a nation, what we can do about that is have a concerted effort to tackle the key preventable causes in those communities where there is no improvement,” said IHME Director Christopher Murray. He told Patch that in places where there is stagnation, local communities should “focus on changing things there that we know can make a difference, like diet, tobacco, high blood pressure and physical inactivity.”



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