Study shows declining life span for some US women

NEW YORK (AP) — Women still live longer than men but a new study finds some U.S. women aren't living as long as they used to.

The latest research found that women age 75 and younger are dying at higher rates than previous years in nearly half of the nation's counties — many of them rural and in the South and West. For men, life expectancy was steady or improved.

The study is the latest to spot this pattern, especially among disadvantaged white women. Some blame higher smoking rates, obesity and less education, but several experts say they simply don't know why.

The lifespan gap between men and women has been narrowing and government data has shown women's longevity is not growing at the same pace as men's.

Studies have only recently begun to spotlight the phenomenon of some women losing ground, though it may have begun in the 80s.

Sound:

298-a-16-(Erika Cheng, project assistant, County Health Rankings analytic team, University of Wisconsin, study co-author, in AP interview)-"in the northeast"-Study co-author Erika Cheng says they did find some things in common for women with worse mortality rates. ((note cut length)) (4 Mar 2013)

<<CUT *298 (03/04/13)>> 00:16 "in the northeast"

299-a-12-(Erika Cheng, project assistant, County Health Rankings analytic team, University of Wisconsin, study co-author, in AP interview)-"case for women"-Study co-author Erika Cheng says they were not expecting to find evidence of falling life expectancy for women in many rural counties. (4 Mar 2013)

<<CUT *299 (03/04/13)>> 00:12 "case for women"

297-a-13-(Erika Cheng, project assistant, County Health Rankings analytic team, University of Wisconsin, study co-author, in AP interview)-"what we expected"-Study co-author Erika Cheng says while overall life expectancy rates have been increasing in the country, the study showed some changes among women. (4 Mar 2013)

<<CUT *297 (03/04/13)>> 00:13 "what we expected"

318-w-35-(Ross Simpson, AP correspondent, with study co-author Erika Chen)--A new study offers more compelling evidence that life expectancy for some American women is actually falling. AP correspondent Ross Simpson reports. (4 Mar 2013)

<<CUT *318 (03/04/13)>> 00:35