UM: Health

An article in Scientific American picks up the study by UM researchers José Tapia Granados and Ana Diez-Roux, who looked at Census Bureau data on mortality rates, life expectancy, unemployment and GDP for each year from 1920 to 1940. They found that the heart of the Great Depression saw the greatest gains in life expectancy and drops in mortality rates. And good economic times can be harder on health. Says Tapia Granados: “People tend to drink more, [and] tend to be overweight and obese during periods of economic expansion.” [Source]