U.S. Life Expectancy

Dr. Robert Butler, CEO of the International Longevity Center in New York, argued that there are four major reasons why American life expectancy has slowed during the last five years.

Butler's four reasons were clearly described in The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch. The reasons are found below.

1. The shockingly high infant mortality rate in the U.S. Mostly because so many babies are born in urban slums and country hollows, where prenatal and infant care is often primitive, America has the second steepest newborn mortality rate among developed nations. In 2005, the latest year for which statistics are available, about seven out of every 1,000 babies in the U.S. died before their first birthdays. Though there has been steady improvement for many years, the U.S. is 29th in the world, behind even Cuba.

2. The multibillion dollar political power of the industries that contribute to the steep rate of obesity among U.S. children and adults, such as fast foods and sugared drinks. Butler urges that the U.S. government create public-private initiatives to promote healthier diets and physical fitness programs among the public at large.

3. The estimated 46 million Americans (15.8 percent of the population) who do not have health insurance and thus lack the kind of medical care that would expand and enhance longevity.

4. The slowdown in medical research in the U.S. Especially absent is the kind of what-makes-the-sky-blue basic research usually conducted by younger scientists and technicians, who tend to be the most innovative, daring, productive -- and successful when it comes to life-expanding discoveries.