Life Expectancy In One U.S. County Is Less Than Sudan’s
“People living in Summit County, Colorado, in 2014 had a life expectancy 20 years longer than those about 420 miles away in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota ― the widest gap in the U.S., according to a study from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The 66.8-year average life span for those living in Oglala Lakota County, home to the Pine Ridge Native American reservation, was also less than that of countries such as India (66.9), Sudan (67.2) and Iraq (67.7), the report found. Residents of Summit County, home to the world-renowned Breckenridge Ski Resort, had life expectancies of 86.8 years, according to the study published Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine. At its core, the study showed the ‘massive inequality’ among people in the United States, study co-author Ali Mokdad said. ‘The gap between counties with the highest and lowest life expectancies is widening and worsening.’”