The life spans of American women are improving at a slower pace than men's and are shorter in many U.S. counties than they were 20 years ago, according to a report released last week.
The trend is cause for alarm, even though women are still expected to outlive men by four years, said the report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
The study is based on mortality data by age, sex and county from 1989 to 2009.
Life expectancy for U.S. men improved by 4.6 years on average, but only by 2.7 years for women.
Life spans county to county across the U.S. range on average from 66.1 to 81.6 years for men and 73.5 to 86 years for women.
"A gain in life expectancy should be equal among men and women," said Ali Mokdad, director of the research team. "This is a wake-up call for all of us. It's tragic that in a country as wealthy as the United States, and with all the medical expertise we have, that so many girls will live shorter lives than their mothers."
Life expectancy stopped improving or reversed for women since 1999 in 661 U.S. counties and in 166 counties for men. A larger percentage of women than men are not adequately treating high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the researchers said.
Across the country, there's nearly a 12-year gap in women's life spans. Women live the longest in Collier, Fla., (85.8) but had the shortest life spans in McDowell, W.Va. (74.1). In 1989, the gap was 8.7 years.
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