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3 Reasons Why New Yorkers Live Longer
Last winter, the New York City Department of Health released some surprising news: a New Yorker born in 2004 can expect to live 78.6 years, nine months longer than the average American will. In addition, the life expectancy of New Yorkers is lengthening faster than that of other Americans.
Why? In an article published in the Aug. 13, 2008, New York magazine, author Clive Thompson interviewed health researchers and found three possible reasons:
* The city's wide-ranging smoking ban of 2003, which dropped deaths attributable to smoking by 10 percent from 2001 to 2005.
* Healthier food options, because New York (like other large cities) attracts a critical mass of people who demand fresh, organic or otherwise superior food choices.
* Perhaps most importantly, New Yorkers walk far more than do suburban Americans, or even residents of other large cities (perhaps due to the fact that New York's high-density urban amenities make walking uniquely viable for shopping, commuting, and other daily tasks). They also tend to walk faster.
My take: this is interesting, but you don't have to move to New York to avail yourself of these advantages. Anyone, anywhere, can decide to stop smoking, walk more and seek out healthy foods (the number of farmers markets has doubled in the last decade, making them more available everywhere). But I am glad that, after so much presidential-campaign speechmaking about "small-town values," New Yorkers may rightfully claim that their city can indeed foster good health.
Last winter, the New York City Department of Health released some surprising news: a New Yorker born in 2004 can expect to live 78.6 years, nine months longer than the average American will. In addition, the life expectancy of New Yorkers is lengthening faster than that of other Americans.
Why? In an article published in the Aug. 13, 2008, New York magazine, author Clive Thompson interviewed health researchers and found three possible reasons:
* The city's wide-ranging smoking ban of 2003, which dropped deaths attributable to smoking by 10 percent from 2001 to 2005.
* Healthier food options, because New York (like other large cities) attracts a critical mass of people who demand fresh, organic or otherwise superior food choices.
* Perhaps most importantly, New Yorkers walk far more than do suburban Americans, or even residents of other large cities (perhaps due to the fact that New York's high-density urban amenities make walking uniquely viable for shopping, commuting, and other daily tasks). They also tend to walk faster.
My take: this is interesting, but you don't have to move to New York to avail yourself of these advantages. Anyone, anywhere, can decide to stop smoking, walk more and seek out healthy foods (the number of farmers markets has doubled in the last decade, making them more available everywhere). But I am glad that, after so much presidential-campaign speechmaking about "small-town values," New Yorkers may rightfully claim that their city can indeed foster good health.
