In the US, middle-aged white people are living shorter and unhealthier lives

(credit: David Goehring/Flickr)

Though people in industrialized countries are generally living longer and better lives, one group isn’t going with the healthy flow.

From 1998 to 2013, mortality rates of white, non-Hispanic Americans aged 45 to 54 rose by half a percent per year, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The trend is in stark contrast to other groups, which continued to see declines during the time frame. Middle-aged Hispanic and black Americans saw a 1.8 percent and 2.6 percent decrease in mortality rate per year, respectively. Populations of other rich countries also saw around two percent declines in mortality rate per year.

The researchers estimate that if mortality rates of middle-aged white Americans held steady at the 1998 level, 96,000 people would still be alive. If the death rate had continued to decline, as other populations’ did, 488,500 people would still be alive.

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