Why do US Americans die younger than Britons ?

[Hum]

New life expectancy figures show US Americans some way behind countries like Canada, the UK and Australia. Why?

Living in the world's richest country comes at a price, and it's measured in life years.

Men in the US are on average aged 75 when they die. That is 1.5 years younger than men in the UK and 3.5 years younger than men in Australia, says a new study.

American women live on average to just under 81 - about three years younger than the average Australian woman.

While life expectancy in the US continues to improve, says the report by researchers at University of Washington in Seattle and Imperial College, London, it is not increasing as quickly as in other Western countries, so the gap is widening.

"The researchers suggest that the relatively low life expectancies in the US cannot be explained by the size of the nation, racial diversity, or economics," says the document, which ranks the US 38th in the world for life expectancy overall.

"Instead, the authors point to high rates of obesity, tobacco use and other preventable risk factors for an early death as the leading drivers of the gap between the US and other nations."

Smoking alone is responsible for one out of every five deaths in the US, the professor says, yet the US has not been as tough as Australia in restricting tobacco advertising and public smoking.

Australia also has a greater focus on primary care - which helps with health education, and early treatment of any problems - and it has done a good job reducing the number of road traffic accidents, he adds.

The US could also save 100,000 lives a year by reducing salt in people's diets, since high blood pressure kills one in six people, Dr Mokdad says.

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[Detection]

Because there is not many places in the UK that sell things like this :laugh:

[Hum]

There are just too many people here -- that's why.

The more people there are, the quality of life goes down.

And the incentive to live, decreases.

[Tartan]

It's mostly diet. While the British diet leaves a lot to be desired, it's poor quality mostly but by definition that ironically makes it healthier than the American diet.

It starts in the schools, just look at what the menu is compared to an equivalent British school.

[Inklin]

There are just too many people here -- that's why.

The more people there are, the quality of life goes down.

And the incentive to live, decreases.

Well that doesn't really add up as the UK is quite densely populated (over 62 million) and Europe as a whole has an estimated 739 million people while the USA has almost 309 million.

[Nihilus]

There are just too many people here -- that's why.

The more people there are, the quality of life goes down.

And the incentive to live, decreases.

Wait, what? The incentive to live?

Besides, America has a relatively low population density. I think population density may even help raise life expectancy, it certainly makes the healthcare system considerably easier to maintain at any rate. I think the problem is, as the article states, down to obesity and a larger percentage of the population using tobacco products. America's notoriously poor healthcare system may not be helping either, although I must admit I haven't read much about it in the last few years so for all I know it may have improved.

[tiagosilva29]

I approve those 'burgers.

[Wolfbane]

"the world's richest country" - yah, it only has about $2 trillion of debt...

[jerzdawg]

"the world's richest country" - yah, it only has about $2 trillion of debt...

It is prob referring to the citizens.... anyway... those burgers look YUMMY!!!!

[spacer]

Terrible diets/menu choices and a crappy healthcare system. Is anyone really surprised by this news?

On the other side of the coin, the US is only behind by a year or two. Not a big enough gap to mean anything.

[Microsoft_Bob]

Greater inequality. It is proven that the state of your health is directly proportional to the stratification of the society in which you live. Britain has a national health service for it's entire population, meaning we mostly have equal access to the same services. Although it's not entirely equal as a result of post code lotteries and better private health care for the rich.

Out of all countries though, Norway is probably the most egalitarian in the western hemisphere, and as a consequence it has the lowest crime rates, morbidity, and stress. The stress caused by witnessing others with better lives and the subsequent dog eat dog culture for the acquisition for wealth should not be underestimated. These stresses cause people to form self-destructive habits such as overeating, drug taking, and alcohol abuse. Not to mention widespread mental illness.

Another problem is that most view the health of a nation and its people by the GDP. The two actually have an inverse relationship. Greater productivity (in a monetary system) oft means more unemployment due to mechanisation and the outsourcing of jobs to third world or poor countries. This further promotes the stress of competition for jobs and an individualistic and greed mentality.

[Twisp]

"the world's richest country" - yah, it only has about $2 trillion of debt...

2?

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

[DocM]

Observation from 30 years in the trenches;

US death rates for males are skewed heavily by African American men. This because of HIV, food preparation (much more fat & high salt in their traditional dishes - even more than US averages), and death by violence - usually gang and police confrontations tied to same among young urban men.

While only 13% of the population AA's are 50% of HIV cases; twice as likely to get cancer and diabetes, have a 30% higher rate of death from cardiovascular disease, 1.8x as likely to have a stroke, 2.3x the infant mortality rate, etc etc.

Sad, but true and it all adds up.

[Tomoko]

Meh. Who wants to sit around in a nursing home like a potted plant anyway?

[Wolfbane]

2?

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

lol, I was only off by about 12.5 trillion... My economics teacher mentioned the US debt yesterday. Turns out I should have looked it up before posting :whistle:

[Charisma Veteran]

Terrible food quality in the "average" diet, chemicals and preservatives and harmful unnatural stuff in our food, combined with not walking/exercising as much as they do in the UK and Europe. Also, the way businesses run is a little different here, there's a lot more stress involved and not enough value placed on downtime and working hard/efficiently for shorter periods balanced with relaxing, which leads to heart problems and early death too.

[DocM]

Yeah, and Obama's spending plan would add another $13+ trillion over the next 10 years. That from his former budget director.

[Tomoko]

From 1950 to 1980 the debt stayed pretty flat, around 3 trillion and actually decreased over that time period. Then in 1980 it started shooting up big time (thanks Reagan), then the "war on terror" came and the national debt skyrocketed out of control. Obama hasn't really helped at all either, it's gone up higher during his term than ever before. I don't see much hope for us.

[norseman]

Because they are some of the fattest things to walk this earth.

[Melfster]

It's skewed because most Republican leaning states have highest obesity rates.

1. Mississippi, 32.0 percent

2. Alabama, 30.3

3. Tennessee, 30.1

4. Louisiana, 29.8

5. West Virginia, 29.5

6. Arkansas, 28.7

7. South Carolina, 28.4

8. Georgia, 28.2

9. Oklahoma, 28.1

10. Texas, 28.1

Higher obesity leads to shorter lives. If you took these 10 states out it would be close to the same.

[c.grz]

It's skewed because most Republican leaning states have highest obesity rates.

1. Mississippi, 32.0 percent

2. Alabama, 30.3

3. Tennessee, 30.1

4. Louisiana, 29.8

5. West Virginia, 29.5

6. Arkansas, 28.7

7. South Carolina, 28.4

8. Georgia, 28.2

9. Oklahoma, 28.1

10. Texas, 28.1

Higher obesity leads to shorter lives. If you took these 10 states out it would be close to the same.

Or you could of said "most southern states"... same thing...and most every other state is between 20 and 24 percent.

[Eddo89]

I think there will be a skew by ethnicity.

In New Zealand, Maori (the ethnic group that inhabited this place before the British came, note they aren't really indigenous) have I think on average 5 years less in life expectancy. I imagine there might be some correlation as there probably are some "systematic racism" given the huge racial divide in US's history, and probably still lingers a bit. And things aren't really that clear cut in economics term as well. Because even in the upper class brackets, a black male is more likely to die earlier than the white male.

Of course, the type of health coverage and culture will be factors. But there is the myth that probably the health is better for those who can afford it, British have a longer life expectancy than Americans in high income brackets, this in fact is across the board. These broad stats are probably 8 years out of date.

I say food culture is an important factor. Quite plainly, if I go to an American restaurant, have 1 entree, I can guarantee that I won't be able to finish the huge steak, or worse, not finish the veges. I probably need to puke before dessert. And that is before we talk about the hamburgers.

[Shaun N.]

There are just too many people here -- that's why.

The more people there are, the quality of life goes down.

And the incentive to live, decreases.

HAHA! Yea too many people thats why...

[Charisma Veteran]

-snip-

I say food culture is an important factor. Quite plainly, if I go to an American restaurant, have 1 entree, I can guarantee that I won't be able to finish the huge steak, or worse, not finish the veges. I probably need to puke before dessert. And that is before we talk about the hamburgers.

This is definitely true. When I go out here, I order the appetizer (entree, starter) and drink unsweetened tea or water. I then just nibble at the main course--I can never finish the meal, so I get it in a to-go box. Two (or sometimes even three) normal sized meals for the price of one.

[Soulsiphon]

We have a corrupt and inefficient health care system, protected by religious extremists who believe you can pray away the gay out of of someone.