At a time when concerns are mounting regarding food, fuel and the economy, a little good news is always welcome.  The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) gave us some of welcome news this past week.  NCHS released preliminary data on deaths for 2006 indicating that age-adjusted death rates in the United States fell significantly between 2005 and 2006, while life expectancy hit another record high.  NCHS reported that:  

The 2006 age-adjusted death rate fell to 776.4 deaths per 100,000 population from 799 deaths per 100,000 in 2005. In addition, death rates for 8 of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States all dropped significantly in 2006, including a very sharp drop in mortality from influenza and pneumonia. 

The report also found:

Life expectancy at birth hit a new record high in 2006 of 78.1 years, a 0.3 increase from 2005. Record high life expectancy was recorded for both white males and black males (76 years and 70 years, respectively) as well as for white females and black females (81 years and 76.9 years). The preliminary number of deaths in the United States in 2006 was 2,425,900, a 22,117 decrease from the 2005 total. With a rapidly growing older population, declines in the number of deaths (as opposed to death rates) are unusual, and the 2006 decline is likely the result of more mild influenza mortality in 2006 compared with 2005. 

It appears that progress is being made on a number of health fronts:  

Between 2005 and 2006, the largest decline in age-adjusted death rates occurred for influenza and pneumonia, with a 12.8 percent decline. Other declines were observed for chronic lower respiratory diseases (6.5 percent), stroke (6.4 percent), heart disease (5.5 percent), diabetes (5.3 percent), hypertension (5 percent), chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (3.3 percent), suicide (2.8 percent), septicemia or blood poisoning (2.7 percent), cancer (1.6 percent) and accidents (1.5 percent). There were an estimated 12,045 deaths from HIV/AIDS in 2006, and age-adjusted death rates from the disease declined 4.8% from 2005. 

Despite the progress in these areas, the U.S. still ranks 29th in life expectancy among the United Nations' member nations.   Nations, like Japan, Sweden, Australia and Switzerland still lead us by 3-4 years, and most countries in Europe lead us by 2-3 years.  The U.S. is also plagued by large disparities in life expectancy.  As reported in an earlier PRC blog (April 30, 2008), two recent studies reveal disturbing disparities between the life expectancy whites and blacks.  And the life expectancy of lower socio-economic groups still lags far behind higher socio-economic groups.  One study also reported that not all Americans are living longer; life expectancy in some areas of the country is actually declining.

The NCHS report also showed that the  “infant mortality rate for 2006 was 6.7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, a 2.3 percent decline from the 2005 rate of 6.9.” But despite the progress in reducing infant mortality, a less encouraging report on children was issued this past week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.  Its Kids Count report found that in 2005, 8.2 percent of U.S. babies were born at low birth weight, the lowest level since 1968.   In various press reports, Laura Beavers, coordinator of the Kids Count project, is quoted as saying the increase in low birth weights was due, in part, to a rise in multiple births and a growing number of premature births.  The foundation report also found significant health disparities: the increase in low-weight birth was significantly higher for blacks (13.6%) than for white (7.3%) or Hispanics (6.9%). 

The Kids Count report, which looked at ten broad indicators of child well-being [child death rate, teen death rate, teen birthrate, high school dropout rate, teens not in school and not working, infant mortality rate, low-birth weight babies, children living with jobless or underemployed parents, children in poverty, and children in single-parent families], gave a somewhat mixed review of the overall picture for children.  The report noted that:  

Some dimensions of well-being improved, some worsened, and some showed little change. However, the overriding picture that these 10 indicators present is one of little change since 2000.  At the national level, 5 of the 10 indicators of child well-being showed that conditions improved since 2000, while child well-being worsened on 4 indicators and stayed the same on 1 indicator. It should be noted, however, that many of these changes were very small and may be random fluctuations in the data. The three areas where measures have worsened (in addition to low-birth weight babies) are: children living in families where no parent has full time year round employment, children in poverty, and children in single parent families.  

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s report emphasized that progress on improving child well-being has stalled in recent years:  

The portrait of change in child well-being since 2000 stands in stark contrast to the period just prior to 2000. Between 1996 and 2000, 8 of the 10 key indicators used in KIDS COUNT improved, and several improved dramatically. The improvement was experienced by every major racial group and in nearly all of the states.

Pre- and post-2000 trends are clearly illustrated by changes in the rate of child poverty since the mid-1990s. Between 1994 and 2000, the child poverty rate fell by 30 percent. This was the largest decrease in child poverty since the 1960s. Since 2000, however, improvements have stalled. In fact, the child poverty rate has increased by 6 percent, meaning 1 million more children in poverty in 2006 than in 2000.