Study throws doubt on theory that women outlive men

The long-held belief that women live longer than men has been thrown into doubt by a new study.

Men have a lower life expectancy than women, but according to academics in Denmark, men have a “substantial chance of outliving females”.

Life expectancies, which summarise the average length of life, are a “simplistic measure”, that is often interpreted as meaning that “men do not live as long as women”, the experts said.Tthe new study suggests that by simply looking at life expectancy, people do not account for variation around the averages and a “sizeable portion of males might live longer than a sizeable portion of females, even if the life expectancy shows a female advantage”.

It says a better way to measure lifespan was to look at at the differences across countries.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Open, looked at data on the lifespan of men and women in 199 countries across 200 years.

It concluded that men have a high probability of outliving women – especially those who are married and have a degree.

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