The global life expectancy of men is gradually catching up with women’s longer lifespans which may be due to changing lifestyles resulting in a decline in alcohol and smoking-related deaths. However, even with the increase there has been a consistent life expectancy gap between the lifespans of men and women. Overall, the average lifespan has increased over the past two centuries, and this trend is expected to continue as countries become wealthier.
To investigate the life expectancy gap further, researchers from the University of Alcalá in Spain led by David Atance del Olmo analyzed the mortality data from 194 countries from 1990 to 2010, according to their longevity trends these countries could be divided into 5 groups. For example, the group with the lowest life expectancies was comprised of Uganda and Rwanda, while the group with the highest life expectancies was comprised of the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, the United States of America, and other parts of Western Europe with the highest incomes.
Biggest Increase
The analysis published in PLOS ONE revealed that men residing in Uganda and Rwanda experienced the greatest increase in lifespan of 14.37 years with their average lifespan jumping from 30.85 years in 1990 to reach 45.22 years in 2010. Women’s lifespan still increased, just not as dramatically, with an increase of 0.94 years from 50.37 years in 1990 to reach 51.31 years in 2010. Even with the remarkable jump, the life expectancy gap is still leaning heavily towards women.
Marginal Decrease
Looking at the group with the highest income and highest life expectancies, women had a longer life expectancy of 4.84 years in 1990, but there was a marginal decrease in the life expectancy gap to 4.77 years in 2010.
The researchers project that with changing lifestyles this gap will continue to narrow to become a 3.4 year life expectancy gap by 2030 in women’s favor. However, women are also becoming increasingly aware about being proactive and they are making healthy lifestyle changes as well, so perhaps the gap may not narrow as predicted. Only time will tell.
Global Life Expectancy Gap Is Narrowing
The same trends were observed for the other three groups with the gap narrowing. The researchers noted that even though they only examined data up until 2010 they expect this trend to continue in the present day because in recent decades both sexes have benefited from advances in healthcare and increased awareness.
Additionally, alcohol and smoking-related deaths have been decreasing which has largely affected men which may have been contributing to the life expectancy gap.
“This study is consistent with epidemiologic trends that would suggest a rise in global life expectancy and a narrowing of the gender gap over time,” says Brandon Yan at the University of California, San Francisco.
Almost anyone can take steps to promote a longer and healthier lifespan by making some simple lifestyle changes. This includes but is not limited to, following a healthy balanced diet, getting enough restful sleep, keeping your levels of stress in check, living an active lifestyle, maintaining a healthy weight, nurturing close social bonds, and challenging your brain with mentally stimulating activities.
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References/Sources/Materials provided by:
https://www.prb.org/resources/around-the-globe-women-outlive-men/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0295842
https://worldhealth.net/news/global-life-expectancy-may-increase-by-2050/
https://worldhealth.net/news/healthful-longevity-promoting-secrets-superagers/
