I saw in my daily Wall Street Journal read the “startling report” that “Hispanics Outlive Whites and Blacks.”

“Startling” for whom, may I ask?

According to the article (which is online now), “U.S. Hispanics outlive whites by more than two years and blacks by more than seven, according to the government’s first calculation of Hispanic life expectancy.”

Wait… their first calculation of Hispanic life expectancy? Seriously?

The article says that “until recently, federal researchers didn’t calculate life expectancy for Hispanics as a separate group; they were included among the black and white populations.”

Wow.

Anyhow, the article goes on to say… “The startling report released Wednesday is the strongest evidence yet of the “Hispanic paradox”—long life expectancy for a population that has a large share of poor, undereducated members. A leading theory is that Hispanics who manage to immigrate to the U.S. are among the healthiest from their countries.”

The article concludes that “An estimated 40% of the U.S. Hispanic population are people born in other countries who immigrated here, and in some cases they arrived after arduous journeys to do taxing manual labor. It takes a fit person to accomplish that, suggesting that the U.S. is gaining some of the healthiest people born in Mexico and other countries, said Dr. Peter Muennig, an assistant professor at Columbia University’s school of public health who has studied life expectancy in different countries.”

Um… hey guys? Maybe the extended lifespan is genetic. Maybe it has something to do with the awesome food selection. Maybe it’s the amazingly strong family bonds. Maybe it has something to do with an overall happier and content lifestyle.

Lumping a extended lifespan under the “fit immigrants came over” banner? I think there’s more to it than that.