Fed: Migrants likely to outlive Aussies: ABS

AAP General News (Australia)
12-11-2001
Fed: Migrants likely to outlive Aussies: ABS

New statistics show migrants to Australia are living longer than people born here.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics survey says Vietnamese immigrants are likely to
live the longest -- with the men likely to reach more than 86 years of age, compared
with just over 77 years for Australian-born males.

Also outliving their Australian counterparts are immigrants from Korea, China, the
Philippines, Sri Lanka -- and even America and Britain.

And Vietnamese women immigrants can expect to live more than 88 years, against 82.5
years for Australian-born women.

Among a group of 20 nationalities studied, only people arriving from Fiji and Papua
New Guinea have less life expectancy than those born in Australia.

The Bureau of Statistics says the most likely reason for the difference in life expectancy
is that migrants are subject to stringent health tests before arriving in Australia.

It says another factor may be that migrants from southern European nations and Asia
have healthier diets consisting mainly of vegetables and containing less animal fats.

AAP RTV rft/daw/tb/rp

KEYWORD: DEATHS MIGRANTS (CANBERRA)

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