Female's natural advantage? Or, the unhealthy environment of males? The status of sex mortality differentials.

Females live almost eight years longer than males, a difference which has increased during the 20th Century. Whether considered by age group or disease category, the mortality of males exceeds that of females. Environmental and behavioral factors, all potentially correctable, explain this differential more satisfactorily than genetic factors. It is nurture more than nature which must be understood if the sex mortality differential is to be decreased.