At today’s Health Strategies Roundtable meeting, Harvey Brenner, PhD, professor of public health and behavioral sciences at the University of North Texas Health Science Center’s School of Public Health, announced new findings that indicate our mortality is directly related to the economy. Specific data shows our national productivity or GDP and labor force participation are major factors in the overall health of our country. They effect life expectancy as well as mortality rates.

“Interestingly, our current economic downturn is showing how quickly the effects of unemployment and, thus, reduction of health care expenditures is resulting in mortality,” Brenner said.  “In the past, we saw people die within 10 years after their job loss.  Now, we are seeing them die as early as the same year.”

The relating issues to increase mortality are complex, but the bottom line is, preventing and controlling health issues is more important in a down economy as more and more people struggle to balance the need for food, shelter and health care.