Aspen really does have it better, in case you had any lingering doubts.

Pitkin County boasts a top-10 life expectancy – 84.2 years for women, 80 for men – out of more than 2,000 counties across the nation, according to a University of Washington study.

The study holds more sobering results for health officials in rural Colorado farming communities, where life expectancy is falling for the first time. Women born in Baca and Bent counties in far southeastern Colorado can expect to live an entire year less than the 80.3 years they would have logged in 1997, the study said.

And many more Colorado counties are falling behind the high standards set by international leaders such as Japan and Sweden.

A man born in Denver, for example, is 19 years behind a counterpart in a top foreign country – meaning the foreigner enjoyed Denver’s current life expectancy back in 1992. World health care has moved on, while such risks as obesity, lack of exercise and diabetes are dragging down most Coloradans and Americans.

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