The role of smoking in the explanation of the Israeli Jewish pattern of sex differentials in mortality
The difference in life expectancy between women and men among Israeli Jews is very low relative to the difference in other developed countries, and the reasons for this are not fully understood. This paper explores the contribution of smoking to the observed patterns of sex-specific
mortality among Israeli Jews, and to the sex difference in mortality exhibited by this population. The results show that the mortality of Israeli Jewish men is low owing to the relatively weak impact of smoking-related mortality, and that this also contributes to an explanation of the small
sex difference. The result is explained by the high level of health-protective behaviour of Israeli Jewish men, including a low intensity of smoking (though not a low prevalence). The findings could have implications for some debates on the determinants of divergences and convergences in mortality,
and research into the relationship between mortality and the Mediterranean diet.
Keywords: Israel; Jews; mortality; sex differentials; smoking
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: RAND Europe, Cambridge
Publication date: 01 July 2011
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