Social Injustice From Personal Irresponsibility

A new study shows great disparities within the United States in longevity. (Story here, study here.) Such disparities could be said to reveal social injustice in our society among classes, sexes, and races. But what's most interesting about the story is how much personal behavior is responsible for creating the disparities.

"Moreover, the longevity gaps have stayed about the same for 20 years despite increasing national efforts to eliminate obvious racial and ethnic health disparities, he found.

Murray was surprised to find that lack of health insurance explained only a small portion of those gaps. Instead, differences in alcohol and tobacco use, blood pressure, cholesterol and obesity seemed to drive death rates."

-tdr

Technorati: Social Justice, Health Care.