Aaron Carroll reported on a fascinating trend: New York City’s life expectancy has been rising much faster than the rest of America’s life expectancy (perhaps the film-makers are somehow helping?) Highlights include:

• The most impressive is Manhattan. Its life expectancy rose by 10 years between 1987 and 2009. In the rest of the US it only increased by 1.7 years per decade.
• This might be due to various NYC health initiatives. They include calorie labels on chain restaurant menu items like McDonald’s Big Mac, a ban on trans-fat as well as public smoking, and extra bicycle lanes.
• The Bronx is the poorest urban county in the United States, yet it was still in the top percentile of America’s 3147 cities and counties in terms of life expectancy gains.

To read more including other reasons for why it might have risen, why it can’t be due to the reduction in homicides and traffic fatalities, why immigration isn’t the likely explanation, and a link to a follow-up post responding to the criticisms that have arisen, click here.

Source: The Incidental Economist