A county-by-county survey by the University of Washington found that with an average life expectancy of 73, residents die 7 years earlier in Anderson County than the rest of the state, the newspaper said. The county is plagued by high occurrences of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancers that have all resulted from poor lifestyle choices, causing many to dub this region of Texas the “Stroke Belt.”
For instance, the study pointed to overeating, chain-smoking, poverty and suspicion about medical care to be the culprits behind the rising number of East Texans dying from a number of fatal health conditions. This is bad news for health insurance companies and life insurers alike, since Texans with these attitudes are prone to serious chronic health conditions that will cost more in the long-term and also raise their rates when it comes to finding life insurance coverage.
The Texas Tribune provides a map of unhealthy life expectancy rates by county.
The same culture that encourages unhealthy living also instills locals with a stubborn view on medical care. While East Texas is swarming with excellent hospitals and leading health care opportunities, Steven Shelton, the executive director of the East Texas Area Health Education Center, told the Times that locals usually only visit a doctor when they are already “really, really sick.”
According to the most recent figures from the Texas Department of State Health Services, heart disease was the leading cause of death for Texans in 2007, responsible for almost a quarter of deaths that year.
