Americans are living longer, but not necessarily healthier

Bad habits could begin to undermine many of the nation's strides in health care, physicians warn.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Oct. 27, 2003.

Advances in medicine, improvements in public health and increased access to preventive care are resulting in longer life expectancies, according to Health, United States, 2003, the latest annual report on the state of the nation's health by the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

"This report shows we're continuing to make progress in improving Americans' health," HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said. For example, life expectancy rose from 75.4 years in 1990 to 77.2 years in 2001.

But while there is a lot of good news, experts are also quick to point out the bad news behind some of the numbers. Some health care disparities persist, and unhealthy habits, such as overeating, could begin to undermine medical advances.

The report showed that access to preventive services has improved in several areas, but trouble spots still exist. Statistics on women's health are a case in point.

An increasing number of women are receiving Pap smears, mammograms and prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy.

However, significant disparities remain. Younger women, for example, were far more likely to have had a Pap smear than those older than 65.

"Yes, it's great that the overall numbers have gone up, and the good news here is that younger women are getting Paps, and hopefully this will be a lifetime pattern for them," said Wendy Chavkin, MD, MPH, professor of public health and obstetrics-gynecology at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Columbia School of Public Health in New York City. "But the highest-risk people are still in pretty crummy shape. The poor and the oldest are not getting them."