For decades, the United States has been slipping in international rankings of life expectancy, as other countries improve health care, nutrition and
lifestyles.
Countries that surpass the U.S. include Japan and most of Europe, as well as Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands.
A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. That life expectancy ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier,
according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics.
Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, had the longest life expectancy, at 83.5 years followed by Japan, Macau,
San Marino and Singapore.
A major one [reason] is that 45 million Americans lack health insurance, while Canada and many European countries have universal health care, they
say.
Among the other factors:
• Adults in the United States have one of the highest obesity rates in the world. 2/3 of adults are overweight while 1/3 are obese.
• Racial disparities, black Americans live five years less than white Americans.
• A relatively high percentage of babies born in the U.S. die before their first birthday, compared with other industrialized nations.
SOURCE:
news.Yahoo.com
That is not good, I always knew we were'nt in the top five, but the 41st!
It's very
sad when Jordan (seriously, Jordan?!) among others outranks us in this.
This really should'nt come as a surprise (to me or anyone else) though, considering
Americans have one of the worst lifestyles (eating lots of very bad food and getting little to no exercise) among others.
Form what I get form the article we need to do several things;
-Universal Healthcare, not just insurance, but full Healthcare.
-Change the terrible habits of eating tons of junk food and get exercise.
-Focus on ways to reduce cancer, heart disease, lung disease, control blood pressure,
reduce cholesterol and regulate blood sugar.
Mind you theres much more we need to do than just that, but just focusing on that
would significantly increase peoples health and raise our lowly position in the
ranking of longevity.
Comments, Opinions?
