Males are at greater risk for mortality

In 2000, non-white males were at greater risk of mortality at all ages from illness and injury. White males were at greater risk of mortality than white females at all ages. Mortality rates increased for all 15 to 19-year-olds, but the risk of death for males was more than two times greater than for females. Youth and young adults are risk takers and their increasing death rates, mostly from injuries, are most evident in the graph below. The source of this problem may be social pressures, inadequate supervision and a lack of recreational opportunities for young males. There are lasting health and economic consequences for our state and nation when so many young men die from preventable causes. The young are our future wage earners. They are the future support for the social security income retired persons will receive and the economic engine for each generation.

Figure 9: Florida Mortality by Age, Race and Gender, 2000

Source: Florida Vital Statistics Annual Report, 2000, pp 3, 90-94 Note: The numbers in the table below graph G3-5 are rates not numbers. The large majority of nonwhite male (96% or 483 of 503) and female deaths (95% or 220 of 231) were among black children and youth.