People who live in coastal areas have a better life expectancy than those living near the “interior” or “continental” waters (rivers, lakes, streams …), according to an online study by the research of the Environmental Scientific Journal on May 29.
Its authors wanted to examine the link between life expectancy and the proximity of a water point near their place of residence. They discovered that “the proximity of coastal waters is positively associated with life expectancy,” while “the proximity of the interior waters” is “negatively associated.”
To achieve this conclusion, the researchers examined “the association between coastal and interior waters and life expectancy in 66,263 census sectors in the United States, integrating socio -economic, demographic and geographical factors.” Life expectancy designates The average life of a population in a given society.
Income differences, air quality …
To explain a difference in life expectancy, the study highlights the best life environment offered by the coast in the United States: these territories experience more temperate climatic conditions, including less extreme temperatures and better air quality.
“They also benefit from better access to leisure, such as larger beaches and bodies of water, as well as better accessibility to transport thanks to flat lands and less resistant roads,” adds the authors of the study, researchers at the State University of Ohio.
The highest income of people living in coastal areas also highlights. However, the level of income greatly influences life expectancy. In France, for example, among the richest 5 %, the life expectancy at the birth of men is 84.4 years, compared to 71.7 years among the poorest 5 %, 13 years apart, according to a Insee study published in 2018. In the United States also, rich people have a better life expectancy than people with less income, according to a senatorial report published in March.
Differences in the city and in the countryside
The authors of the study published in the Environmental Research magazine also underline that, according to their figures, there are “notable differences” of the life expectancy of the inhabitants of the United States depending on whether they live near the interior waters in the city or in rural areas.
“In urban areas, the proximity of interior waters is negatively associated with life expectancy, while in the rural area, it is positive. On the other hand, the proximity of coastal waters systematically has a positive impact on urban and rural areas,” they explain. This can also be explained by several socio -economic and environmental factors (air quality, for example).
If they point out that the data in the place where we live does not say everything about our interactions with the aquatic areas, and that their data does not take into account the quality of the bodies of water they have studied, the researchers call to establish the “fair” access to the benefits that the coastal areas can offer in particular.
Source: BFM TV
