Where you live can be an indicator of how long you'll live, according to a new study on San Joaquin Valley health.

Published by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, the report found that in counties spanning from Tulare to Stanislaus, life expectancy varied markedly by ZIP code. In the most extreme cases, there was as much as a 21-year difference between neighborhoods.

“It doesn’t have to do with the attributes of the individuals in a community, but often the conditions they find themselves living in,” Brian Smedley, Vice President and Director of the center’s Health Policy Institute, said of the wide swing in life expectancy across the valley. “Some people in neighborhoods that enjoy the best and worst health are just a few miles apart.”

Read more at California Watch.

Early one morning in March, Donald Williams climbed into a twelve-seat van and headed toward San Quentin State Prison. As he drove, he swilled coffee while the rising sun turned the sky a hopeful pink. At the prison gates, he was greeted by guards who remember when he was a drug-addicted recidivist who cycled in and out of prison. The prison vehicle carrying soon-to-be released inmates stopped just outside the gate and Williams gave the guard the name of his pickup. The guard called out: "Copeland!"

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Healthy Oakland and Alameda County are not alone in their view. "The reality is that health care only accounts for 15 percent of a populations' health," explained Brian D. Smedley, vice president and director of the Health Policy Institute of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, DC. "What is important for health is not your genetic code, but your Zip code, and the next wave of public health is to address people outside of health care and look at the neighborhood and community factors."

Read the Full Story at eastbayexpress.com.