Numbers Say New Yorkers Are More Healthy, Live Longer

City kids may have more food allergies, but apparently New Yorkers' lifespan has  increased for the past ten years, while other cities' numbers are dropping. Why? Public health advocates and nutrition initiatives may be the reason. 

LiveScience reports that Manhattanites have a life expectation of 82, while the average life expectancy for New York City in general is 80.6 years old. The national average, on the other hand, is around 77 years old.

So why New York? The Lancet notes the city's influential health policies as a major factor.

Over the last decade, the health department phased out whole milk from school systems, made calorie labels for chain food mandatory, and banned trans fats. The city also prohibited smoking in public areas, upped taxes on cigarettes, created new bike lanes, and funded campaigns educating readers on the risk of obesity.

The Lancet reports that "more than 60 percent of the increase in life expectancy since 2000 can be attributed to reductions in heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke. In the past decade, death rates for heart disease alone fell by some 25 percent." 

Even now, Mayor Bloomberg's proposal to ban large sodas could potentially increase life expectancy. Frappucinos, or an extra year of life expectancy? Then again, coffee does help you live longer. Decisions, decisions.