COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Americans are more likely to die before they turn 25 than their peers in other wealthy nations, a report co-authored by a University of Colorado-Boulder researcher found, with people of color at even higher risk of dying young.
The report, published in the Population Reference Bulletin last month, found those mortality rates stagnated or worsened in the U.S. between 2013 and 2019 while comparable nations improved at ensuring their younger citizens grow old.
These deaths are often violent: The leading causes of death for American children and young adults are unintentional injuries, suicides and homicides. Many of these losses, the authors wrote, can be prevented through "aggressive" government and societal action to address poverty, discrimination and access to health care, among others.
