Culture Blog

Although Hispanics have a higher rate of poverty and low rates of health insurance, Hispanics seem to have a longer life expectancy. They tend to outlive African- Americans and non-Hispanic whites in the United States. A government report stated that as of 2006, the life expectancy of Hispanics from birth is 80.6 years. This is 2.5 years longer than non- Hispanic whites and 8 years longer than African- Americans. This is surprising because Hispanic families have a lower average family income, a higher poverty rate, and  are less likely to have a college degree. Hispanics also have a higher rate of obesity and diabetes. Elizabeth Arias of the National Center for Health Statistics said this may be happening because of the "close family networks and low rates of smoking. One hypothesis is that these serve as protective factors that mitigate the negative effects of poverty or underemployment or lack of health care."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/health/research/19aging.html