A new study by a group of researchers at the University of Southern Denmark reopens long-held ideas about the lifespan of men and women.
Researchers find that the notion that ‘women live longer than men’ is not entirely true, and that 25-50 percent of men actually live longer than women.
The research, conducted by the Interdisciplinary Center for Population Dynamics of the University of Denmark, examines the life expectancy of Men and women with 200 years of data collected from 199 countries .
According to the study published in the medical journal BMJ Open, men who are married or have gone to university are more likely to live longer than women.
The researchers found that 1 or 2 out of every 4 men lived longer than women in the countries they studied.
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“Men who are married or have a university degree generally live longer than women who are unmarried and do not have a high school diploma,” the Denmark-based researchers say.
Saying that the difference in life expectancy between the sexes is a very nuanced issue, the researchers emphasize that it is not sufficient to evaluate the average life expectancy when making this calculation.
The findings of the analysis also indicate that the probability of men living longer than women declined in developed countries until the 1970s, and then began to rise, as elsewhere in the world.
Experts also note that men are more likely to outlive women in low- and middle-income countries.
On The Other Hand, Changes In Life Expectancy by gender are also said to be due to behavioral distinctions such as smoking.
Experts point out that men drink and smoke more in their 20s and 30s, and therefore more deaths occur in their 60s.
Researchers, who also say that couples affect each other’s behaviors, state that men generally find it more beneficial to be in a stable relationship and marriage than women, and this affects their life span.
The researchers say that overall, women still live longer than men, but the difference is much smaller than previously thought, and recommends to analyze country-by-country data for a more effective measurement.
