New York City's Longer Life Expectancy Is Linked to Anti -Smoking Crusade

New York City heart-disease deaths have dropped 28 percent since 2002, a decrease the Health Department attributes to bans on public smoking, cigarette taxes and ads depicting tobacco-related illnesses.

The statistics were contained in a report Mayor Michael Bloomberg released yesterday giving babies born in New York a record life expectancy of 80.6 years, three years more than in 2000 and above the national rate of 78.2 years. The report also showed AIDS fatalities have dropped faster than any other cause of death in the city.

"If you want to live longer and healthier than the average American, come to New York City,” Bloomberg said as he released the report. "By investing in health care and continuing to encourage more New Yorkers to take charge of their own health, we’ve experienced dramatic improvements in life expectancy.”

In September, the Health Department said the city’s adult smoking rate had reached a record low, with only 14 of 100 New Yorkers still smoking, a 35 percent decrease since 2002. Health officials said the decline would prevent 50,000 premature deaths in the next 40 years.

Americans 65 and older now account for the largest percentage of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. From 2000 to 2010, the number of people 65 and older grew 15.1 percent while the total population increased 9.7 percent, the bureau said. 

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Source: Bloomberg