New research: narrowing the gap in life expectancy between men and women | life expectancy | men and women
Reference News recently published an article on the website of Deutsche Welle Radio titled "Narrowing the gap in life expectancy between men and women". The summary of the report is as follows:
For decades, the growth rate of life expectancy for women has been higher than that of men, but by the end of the 20th century, the gap in life expectancy between men and women began to narrow.
Scholars from the German Federal Institute of Population Studies conducted a detailed investigation and study on the causes of death in 228 regions of seven European countries. A study found that in the mid-1990s, the life expectancy of men in these countries and regions was 7 years shorter than that of women. But in the past 10 years, this gap has narrowed to 5 and a half years.
In southern Germany, Denmark, and Switzerland, the gap in life expectancy between men and women is the lowest. He is 3.5 years old in Munich and its surrounding areas in Germany. However, in parts of eastern Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and France, the gap in life expectancy between men and women can reach 6 years or even greater.
Research has found that the gap in life expectancy between men and women in rural areas is higher than that in urban areas. Researcher Marcus Solberg said, "Prosperous big cities often attract healthy and high-quality populations due to their good employment opportunities, while structurally weak areas have less appeal to these people." Therefore, the mortality rate in big cities is relatively low, and gender differences are also small.
In addition, unhealthy lifestyles can also lead to a reduction in life expectancy. The common bad habit of smoking among men in the last century was an important reason for the slower growth rate of life expectancy in men compared to women. Other main reasons include that men often have longer working hours than women, and the proportion of men engaged in occupations with higher health risks is relatively higher than that of women.
Research shows that the mortality rate caused by smoking has begun to decrease in the male population, but the mortality rate caused by smoking in women is still increasing. Researchers have found that the differences in health risks associated with work between men and women are also decreasing, as more and more women are entering the workforce today.
This study found that only a small portion of the difference in life expectancy between men and women can be attributed to physiological differences between the sexes, while a larger portion depends on individual lifestyles, disease prevention, and early detection.
Sebastian Cluzener, who participated in this study, said, "How society perceives the roles of men and women in private life, work, and crisis situations can have a significant impact on gender differences in mortality rates." He stated that the more society defines gender roles, the smaller the difference in life expectancy between men and women.
