October 23, 2019 641 PM
TEXAS — Travel just a few miles in the Lone Star State and life expectancy can vary drastically — even by decades, a new analysis shows.
And in few places is that more true than the Big Bend region. The average life expectancy is 87.8 years in Brewster County, compared to just 77.2 in south Presidio County — a difference of more than 10 years. North Presidio County falls in the middle, at 80.5 years of expected life for residents.
The state-wide study was compiled by the Episcopal Health Foundation in Houston, which pulled data from the U.S. Small-Area Life Expectancy Estimates Project (USALEEP) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Episcopal then converted the data into an interactive map with the goal of highlighting geographic differences.
Another goal of the project: To show that many factors — including race, income and the availability of fresh food — can affect people’s health.
“Access to medical care is a big factor, but it’s not the only factor,” said Brian Sasser, a spokesman for Episcopal — dismissing the notion that “if you can get access to a doctor, then everything’s going to be fine.”
“What this map shows is that where you live, and all the things that go into that, has a deep impact on your health,” Sasser told The Big Bend Sentinel. “Poverty, no safe places to exercise, fresh food: All those things combine together to make the puzzle of your health.”
Episcopal shared an infographic roughly estimating the impacts of these “drivers of health.” Social and economic factors account for around 40 percent of the average person’s health, according to Episcopal, while health behaviors like tobacco use and sexual activity account for around 30 percent. Ten percent is the physical environment, including air and water quality. Medical care itself only accounts for around 20 percent.
“There’s all these different pieces of the puzzle, and every neighborhood has a different make-up of what those puzzle pieces are,” Sasser said. More than any big differences between the regions — east vs. west, urban vs. rural, etc. — it was these drivers of health that determined how long Texans lived.
Examined in that light, the differences in health between Brewster County and south Presidio County start to make more sense. Brewster County has a median household income of around $39,000 compared to around $23,000 in south Presidio County. About 30 percent of south Presidio County residents live below the poverty line, while only around 11 percent do in Brewster County. Eighty-five percent of Brewster County residents finished high school, compared to just 42 percent in south Presidio County.
“It’s not a perfect science by any means,” Sasser said of the analysis. “But it does get you thinking about health in a different way.”
