The front-page of a recent Sunday, Contra Costa Times newspaper shouted at me from inside its box, “Shortened Lives. Where you live Matters“.
I leaned over to read what I could through the glass/plastic and discovered that the average Asian-American woman lives twenty years longer than an African-American man does. The numbers were shocking.
The average Asian-American female lived to be 89.4 (Asian-American men live to be 85.1), while the average African-American man lived to be 69.9. African-American women did better. They averaged 77.5.
The Contra Costa Times feature went on to report, “The long life span for Asian-Americans follows a national trend.… Much of it may have to do with diet.”
Education was also mentioned. Statistics show that the more education one has, the longer one may live.
I bought the paper and read the piece and the before I was done reading, the message was that the government and health care were being held responsible to level the life-expectancy field.
I beg your pardon.
It isn’t the government or a doctor’s job to instill healthy habits in a child so he or she grows up to be a healthy adult with a chance at living a longer life. The government and doctors may give advice but the job falls to the parent.
To be continued on April 15, 2011 in Part 2 or discover how Tiger Parents are Saving America One Child at a Time
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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