It's a bit concerning that it's labeled a paradox, as you only use that word if it's strongly counter intuitive. That implies everyone who uses that term expected Hispanics to not live longer.
When you see that trend in the data surely you should say "that's interesting, I wonder if it's accurate and hence something to do with being Hispanic" rather than "By what devilry does my data suggest that Hispanics live longer?".
For example, what if my data showed that less affluent people do better in school, or have better health, than more affluent people.
Would that surprise you, and would a healthy response be to check your data again before chasing after this conclusion?
I think generally, yes, because it conflicts with our notions (from earlier studies) about how socioeconomic status affects success in schools and in health.
And that's likely at the core of the 'paradox', that hispanic communities are relatively less affluent than a median citizen, and that lower socioeconomic status is normally linked to negative, rather than positive, affects on health. The surprise isn't really concerning.
I mean I get your point, it's important to remain open-minded and ask open-minded questions, as opposed to questions which carry lots of preconceived ideas about the world. But in this case it doesn't seem all that concerning to me.
>It's a bit concerning that it's labeled a paradox, as you only use that word if it's strongly counter intuitive. That implies everyone who uses that term expected Hispanics to not live longer.
Considering that they live shorter in Mexico and Latin America, and that they are less afluent that the mean in the US, it makes sense to expect that.
Lets take in mind that genetics are complicated here.
Spaniards where a mix of mediterranean and african people: Arabs, Jews, Celts (Irish/French), Catholics (Italian/French), Hindi (Gipsies), Phoenician from the actual Israel, Guanche from Canary Islands, Dutch/Scottish/English sailors settled in Cadiz... and after this, native americans and sub saharians entered in the family and things went really crazy in this sense.
So a Spaniard and a North African can be genetically very close. And a Spaniard and a Jew can be closer genetically than an american Jew that could be in fact a mix of Mediterranean Jews and English. By the same reason some afroamericans can be pretty close to hispanics genetically. Is the culture and the history what is different, not the genetics.
Thought it was an interesting question to be honest... I'm fine with the occasional article asking a question without immediately providing answers.
It makes a strong case for the gap to actually exist (which has been contested in the past), by showing studies unaffected by immigration which still indicate a gap.
And it also offers some answers. The most compelling one is that it's cultural, behavioural, relating to diets, smoking, drinking etc. The argument for this is that the gap is smaller for immigrants who are 2nd, 3rd generation, and who have assimilated more of the typical US culture.
Growing up in a latin american, predominantly Catholic country, I can assure you that they are not less prone to drinking. Smoking was less common, but because of the culture, not religion.
Although that sounds like a Freakonomics type explanation, it seems pretty unlikely that smoking and drinking rates would not already have been assessed and excluded. These are two pretty big factors at the top of the list when examining life expectancy.
Also, if your hypothesis was true, then it would need to hold for other [Roman] Catholic groups for that to be the key factor. That does not seem to be the case as, according to Wolfram Alpha, the top life expectancy (at 84.4 years) is Macau, followed by Japan (83.6) then Switzerland (82.6) and Australia (82.5) tied with Andorra. Italy is 6th though.
While there are Roman Catholic countries high up, there are also higher ranked, non-Roman Catholic ones.
There are many convincing cases of benefit derived from religious faith but I'm not sure you can make such a case for life expectancy.
Less prone to drinking. I see my priest drinking wine every week at mass. But seriously, I don't think Hispanics are less prone to drinking. Is that true?
Hispanic is a pretty stupid category, but people described as Hispanic-Americans are usually to some degree South/Central American indigenous by descent - making them on average 3 or 4 inches shorter than black or white Americans.
Shorter people live longer. It's been speculated that women's longevity advantage over men is determined entirely by height.
It's probably cultural... latin-americans, and Europeans with latin culture (France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, etc) usually tend to take life "less seriously" (we all know the awful toll stress takes in our bodies/minds), and also eat healthier introducing other paradoxes like the "French Paradox"[0]
The French Paradox is basically a politically correct way for standard american diet believers to talk about how paleo style diets mysteriously seem healthier. How could it possibly be that lower carb, less processed, higher natural fat diets lead to health when the big agribusinesses who purchased the official USDA guidelines to increase their profits insist on the opposite as the path to health despite the evidence of the obesity epidemic? With a strong side dish of puritan guilt, if it tastes good it must be bad for you, and french-style cooking usually tastes pretty good.
There are some pretty major differences between eating habits in Mexico, and, say, Italy. The people in the former are statistically quite obese, whereas Italians tend to be in pretty good shape.
Infant mortality rates are lower for Hispanic babies born in the US to non-US born parents. This is a pretty well known fact in the public health research.
I'm probably being naive here, but aren't Asian countries' low mortality levels recognized as a result of their diets? If there is one staple one could point to as being shared between Hispanics and Asians, must that staple be rice? I just wonder if the choice of main starch - which is consumed so commonly across cultures - distinguished Hispanic Americans from other Americans, who are more likely to rely on corn or wheat as their staple starch.
Don't forget beans. A 20 point drop in cholesterol might explain the difference [1].
Perhaps the lack of access to healthcare explains the difference. Healthcare is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. [2].
Why does the effect dissipate for the second and third generation? My theory: Mexican restaurants in the U.S. supply a free bottomless basket of fried corn chips with every meal.
Yep, I read some of the comments here, then I read the article kindly submitted to open the thread from top to bottom, and then I read all the rest of the previous comments here. The article is more interesting than I expected from the first comments I read. Particularly interesting is the issue of whether or not earlier epidemiological studies were counting the same people over the course of their lifespan, or whether some "Hispanic" people in the United States were moving back and forth internationally, or not being counted at all in epidemiological surveillance, either of which might badly skew the figures.
One question that came up in several comments is what is meant by the "ethnicity" designation term "Hispanic," which is used only in the United States for epidemiological studies like this. The Census Bureau says
"The U.S. Census Bureau collects race data in accordance with guidelines provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and these data are based on self-identification. The racial categories included in the census questionnaire generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country and not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include racial and national origin or sociocultural groups. People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture, such as 'American Indian' and 'White.' People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race."
In other words, we can't count on "Hispanic" people having any particular gene assemblage at the individual level and it's difficult even to assume that Hispanic people really, truly share a common culture that differs from non-Hispanic culture. There is a LOT of noise to go with whatever signal is carried by the designation "Hispanic," and people's self-designation by that term or not has changed a lot in my lifetime.
But, as the article points out, there may be some good news here for people in the United States in general. "Understanding the origins of the Hispanic paradox will tell us a lot about the future of health care in the United States. And if the Hispanic advantage does have something to do with culture — with strong, supportive communities and healthy behaviors — then that is something that the rest of the country can emulate." Better understanding the long-term, steady drop in all-cause mortality in the United States at all ages[1] may help us find ways to keep that trend[2] going, further lengthening lifespans for all Americans.
Less pancakes, bacon, fries, pizza, hamburguers (and more vegetables and grains). Such greasy food might have sense on a hostile cold weather but that doesn't mean its good on the long term.
[+] [-] AndrewOMartin|11 years ago|reply
When you see that trend in the data surely you should say "that's interesting, I wonder if it's accurate and hence something to do with being Hispanic" rather than "By what devilry does my data suggest that Hispanics live longer?".
[+] [-] IkmoIkmo|11 years ago|reply
For example, what if my data showed that less affluent people do better in school, or have better health, than more affluent people.
Would that surprise you, and would a healthy response be to check your data again before chasing after this conclusion?
I think generally, yes, because it conflicts with our notions (from earlier studies) about how socioeconomic status affects success in schools and in health.
And that's likely at the core of the 'paradox', that hispanic communities are relatively less affluent than a median citizen, and that lower socioeconomic status is normally linked to negative, rather than positive, affects on health. The surprise isn't really concerning.
I mean I get your point, it's important to remain open-minded and ask open-minded questions, as opposed to questions which carry lots of preconceived ideas about the world. But in this case it doesn't seem all that concerning to me.
[+] [-] coldtea|11 years ago|reply
Considering that they live shorter in Mexico and Latin America, and that they are less afluent that the mean in the US, it makes sense to expect that.
[+] [-] rayiner|11 years ago|reply
That's a totally reasonable assumption given that we know: 1) Hispanics on average have lower SES; 2) longevity is correlated with SES.
[+] [-] golemotron|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mhuffman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Sherlock|11 years ago|reply
For instance, Chile ranks higher than the US here, despite being a poorer country: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expec...
[+] [-] pvaldes|11 years ago|reply
Spaniards where a mix of mediterranean and african people: Arabs, Jews, Celts (Irish/French), Catholics (Italian/French), Hindi (Gipsies), Phoenician from the actual Israel, Guanche from Canary Islands, Dutch/Scottish/English sailors settled in Cadiz... and after this, native americans and sub saharians entered in the family and things went really crazy in this sense.
So a Spaniard and a North African can be genetically very close. And a Spaniard and a Jew can be closer genetically than an american Jew that could be in fact a mix of Mediterranean Jews and English. By the same reason some afroamericans can be pretty close to hispanics genetically. Is the culture and the history what is different, not the genetics.
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] raverbashing|11 years ago|reply
After all, "hispanics" are Native-Americans genetically (though there are differences between regions)
Maybe they are more adapted to something (may be even the corn-heavy modern American diet)
I guess the societal factors play an important part as well.
[+] [-] unwind|11 years ago|reply
Is this click-bait? Very annoying, at least.
[+] [-] IkmoIkmo|11 years ago|reply
It makes a strong case for the gap to actually exist (which has been contested in the past), by showing studies unaffected by immigration which still indicate a gap.
And it also offers some answers. The most compelling one is that it's cultural, behavioural, relating to diets, smoking, drinking etc. The argument for this is that the gap is smaller for immigrants who are 2nd, 3rd generation, and who have assimilated more of the typical US culture.
[+] [-] dataker|11 years ago|reply
South Americans are predominantly Catholic and less prone to drinking/smoking and end up fostering a community
[+] [-] nathancahill|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pascalmemories|11 years ago|reply
Also, if your hypothesis was true, then it would need to hold for other [Roman] Catholic groups for that to be the key factor. That does not seem to be the case as, according to Wolfram Alpha, the top life expectancy (at 84.4 years) is Macau, followed by Japan (83.6) then Switzerland (82.6) and Australia (82.5) tied with Andorra. Italy is 6th though.
While there are Roman Catholic countries high up, there are also higher ranked, non-Roman Catholic ones.
There are many convincing cases of benefit derived from religious faith but I'm not sure you can make such a case for life expectancy.
[+] [-] dalacv|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SpaceManNabs|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pessimizer|11 years ago|reply
Shorter people live longer. It's been speculated that women's longevity advantage over men is determined entirely by height.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/201...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002432050...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1600586
Black, white and Mexican-American mean heights:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad347.pdf
[+] [-] joeyspn|11 years ago|reply
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_paradox
[+] [-] VLM|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] davidw|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] saiya-jin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] venomsnake|11 years ago|reply
Some fraudulent quack will surely misinterpret it on tv ...
[+] [-] amelius|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bryanlarsen|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] firichapo|11 years ago|reply
If I was to take a guess is because of our (usually) strong bonds with family and friends. And somehow that helps with stress.
[+] [-] galactus|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] tom_b|11 years ago|reply
See http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6026a6.htm?s_cid=...
I vaguely remember that the effect disappears for second generation births. Don't have a citation handy for that though.
(Edit: pdf link since the above link seemed truncated - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr59/nvsr59_06.pdf )
[+] [-] natroniks|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jmulho|11 years ago|reply
Perhaps the lack of access to healthcare explains the difference. Healthcare is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. [2].
Why does the effect dissipate for the second and third generation? My theory: Mexican restaurants in the U.S. supply a free bottomless basket of fried corn chips with every meal.
[1] http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/beans/ [2] http://nutritionfacts.org/2013/07/16/dr-gregers-new-annual-y...
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] tokenadult|11 years ago|reply
One question that came up in several comments is what is meant by the "ethnicity" designation term "Hispanic," which is used only in the United States for epidemiological studies like this. The Census Bureau says
"The U.S. Census Bureau collects race data in accordance with guidelines provided by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and these data are based on self-identification. The racial categories included in the census questionnaire generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country and not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include racial and national origin or sociocultural groups. People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture, such as 'American Indian' and 'White.' People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race."
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_RHI525211.htm
In other words, we can't count on "Hispanic" people having any particular gene assemblage at the individual level and it's difficult even to assume that Hispanic people really, truly share a common culture that differs from non-Hispanic culture. There is a LOT of noise to go with whatever signal is carried by the designation "Hispanic," and people's self-designation by that term or not has changed a lot in my lifetime.
But, as the article points out, there may be some good news here for people in the United States in general. "Understanding the origins of the Hispanic paradox will tell us a lot about the future of health care in the United States. And if the Hispanic advantage does have something to do with culture — with strong, supportive communities and healthy behaviors — then that is something that the rest of the country can emulate." Better understanding the long-term, steady drop in all-cause mortality in the United States at all ages[1] may help us find ways to keep that trend[2] going, further lengthening lifespans for all Americans.
[1] "Why Are You Not Dead Yet? Life expectancy doubled in past 150 years. Here’s why" http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science_of_...
[2] http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v307/n3/box...
[+] [-] TazeTSchnitzel|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tremols|11 years ago|reply