Saying Latinos live longer than whites or blacks is like telling the miserable that the meek will inherit the earth. They may feel better but it doesn’t change their reality.

It is well established that Latinos are the population group most likely to get inadequate health care and suffer from chronic maladies like diabetes and coronary afflictions. A recent government study, however, asserts that “U.S. Hispanics live longer, on average, than most other Americans.”

They even have a name for it: the “Hispanic Paradox.”

Dr. Fernando Guerra (who isn’t closely related to this writer), questions the whole notion. Guerra heads the Metropolitan Health District in San Antonio, Texas, which analyzes local death records each year, finds that more Hispanics die prematurely — before age 65 — of common diseases like heart disease and diabetes, at least in San Antonio.

He is one of a Hispanic pair o’ docs who question the whole notion. Others have pointed out that studies of the purported phenomenon are based on faulty data.

“The so-called Hispanic paradox that they’re making reference to is really dispelled by some of our own data,” Guerra told a local newspaper. “The Hispanic population is dying at a younger age consistently.”

And at the base of this ridiculous notion, which some will seize on to argue against more universal health care, is bad record-keeping, say detractors. Reporting of ethnicity on death certificates and U.S. Census data is, at best, flawed and often non-existent. Additionally, people lie about their age, especially as they age, though may do so for different reasons.

While other older Americans understate their age as they gray, many Latinos will overstate their age to increase their influence and inflate their importance in communities where age is mistakenly linked to wisdom.

This writer is a good example of this. Those who check his FB profile will see that he claims he is now 93 years old. And people do treat him deferentially, even referring to him at times, as “Mr. Guerra.”