Lifespan of Americans Falling Behind Other Countries
August 13, 2007 7:02 PM | Healthcare | Comments (0)
 | Something is wrong with this scenario. The richest country on the planet that spends the most on healthcare is decreasing in international rankings for life expectancy. Life expectancy in the United States is surpassed by Japan, most of Europe, Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands. Although Americans are living longer than before, they are not living as long as 41 other countries. A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years, however, the life expectancy ranks 42nd which is down from 11th just 20 years ago. These numbers are according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics. |
The longest life expectancy of 83.5 years is held by Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain. It was followed by Japan, Macau, San Marino and Singapore.
The shortest life expectancy of 34.1 years is held by Zambia, Angola, Liberia and Zimbabwe. The shortest life expectancies were clustered in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region that has been hit hard by an epidemic of HIV and AIDS, as well as famine and civil strife.
According to researchers there are several factors contributing to the United States falling behind other industrialized nations. The number one problem is that 45 million Americans don't have health insurance, while Canada and many European countries have universal health care.
Other factors include:
Copyright © 2009 By Patrick Birmingham (Associate Writer)
The shortest life expectancy of 34.1 years is held by Zambia, Angola, Liberia and Zimbabwe. The shortest life expectancies were clustered in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region that has been hit hard by an epidemic of HIV and AIDS, as well as famine and civil strife.
According to researchers there are several factors contributing to the United States falling behind other industrialized nations. The number one problem is that 45 million Americans don't have health insurance, while Canada and many European countries have universal health care.
Other factors include:
- Nearly a third of U.S. adults 20 years and older are obese, while about two-thirds are overweight.
- Black Americans have an average life expectancy of 73.3 years, five years shorter than white Americans. Black American males have a life expectancy of 69.8 years, slightly longer than the averages for Iran and Syria and slightly shorter than in Nicaragua and Morocco.
- A relatively high percentage of babies born in the U.S. die before their first birthday, compared with other industrialized nations. Forty countries, including Cuba, Taiwan and most of Europe had lower infant mortality rates than the U.S. in 2004. The U.S. rate was 6.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births. It was 13.7 for Black Americans, the same as Saudi Arabia.
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