Roberto-Del-Camino t1_je5xzwl wrote on March 29, 2023 at 5:23 PM

Reply to comment by No_Historian718 in The Berkshires, Hampden are the least healthy counties in Mass., new study shows by bostonglobe

Then why is 100% urban Suffolk County 11th out of 14? It’s home to the finest hospitals in the world. It really comes down to economics more than anything.

AboyNamedBort t1_je6dr5o wrote on March 29, 2023 at 7:03 PM

The poor people in Suffolk Country would be more unhealthy if they walked less. So yes its economics. There is also a lot of air pollution from cars and planes in the Boston area.

Roberto-Del-Camino t1_je6m1qm wrote on March 29, 2023 at 7:56 PM

First off, love your username. Do you still have that bicycle license plate?

Second, life expectancy for poor people is not just related to the amount of exercise they get. Infant mortality, manual labor, and violent crime all have a much higher impact on poor people than well-off people.

Add in poor diets (because junk food is cheaper than healthy food) and genetic predisposition to some diseases by historically impoverished segments of the population and it’s a recipe for shorter lives.

No_Historian718 t1_je5yk12 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 5:26 PM

🤷🏼‍♀️

Roberto-Del-Camino t1_je604t4 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 5:36 PM

If you compare per capita income, by county, to life expectancy, by county, it’s almost an exact correlation. Otherwise, Suffolk county would have the highest life expectancy in the United States, or maybe the world. It’s completely urban, and it’s home to tremendous medical facilities.