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Why do Americans die younger than Britons?

BBC News ^ | 10 July 2011

Posted on by MinorityRepublican

New life expectancy figures show 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."

"We weren't surprised that we had lower life expectancies than other countries, but we were surprised by the fact that we were falling further behind," says Dr Ali Mokdad, professor of global health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Take a country like Australia, he says. "It also has a nation of immigrants. It also is a relatively young country. It has similar socioeconomic characteristics.



(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...

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To: MinorityRepublican

Fast Cars and faster women...



To: MinorityRepublican

Cooking with Statistics 101. Are we playing footsie with the average as opposed to the median? As I’ve heard, if we’re talking average lifespan, the Euros never include infant deaths in their figures. Or so I’ve heard.



To: MinorityRepublican

Maybe we keep better statistics than they do.



by 4 posted onby choctaw man (Good ole Andrew Jackson, or You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma...)

To: MinorityRepublican

I would first look at how the infant deaths are calculated. I’ll bet the calculations themselves are different, favoring the Brits in this case.



To: sinanju

Working a 40+ hour week will kill quicker than a 38 hour week?



by 6 posted onby doc1019 (You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.)

To: Kickass Conservative

They keep forgetting to subtract time fishing and FReeping.



To: MinorityRepublican

We are heavier.



To: MinorityRepublican

“Damn lies and statistics” ....everytime I see the USA compaired with third world nations, I think, “These countries have no infrastructure and we’re supposed to come in behind them in several (health) categories?” It’s all in how numbers are reported.



by 9 posted onby choctaw man (Good ole Andrew Jackson, or You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma...)

To: MinorityRepublican

We’re in a bigger hurry to go partying with Jeezus, dude!



To: MinorityRepublican

because we calculate the statistics differently



by 11 posted onby GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)

To: MinorityRepublican

Another garbage article from BBC. There are so many. The reason that Americans don't live as long as some European countries is that we have a large number of lower class citizens (you need to read between the lines) who are making a habit of killing each other in their early years. When you factor that out Americans live as long as anyone in the world.



Take the average lifespan of those who have reached 50 and you get a very different result.



by 12 posted onby truthguy (Good intentions are not enough.)

To: MinorityRepublican

Socialism keeps you alive longer, that’s a fact!



To: MinorityRepublican

Well then, I’m convinced. We must switch to a national health care system, just like the Brits./s



To: freedumb2003

With today's technology, you can fish while FReeping, or is it FReep while fishing?



To: choctaw man

Yep. I think Cuba starts the infant mortality thing a day or two after they are born while the US counts stillbirths. Every country counts them up differently.



by 16 posted onby GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)

To: MinorityRepublican

Americans die to get to the pearly gates but the Brits would settle for the pearly teeth.



by 17 posted onby tflabo ( to have been selected)

To: MinorityRepublican

high rates of obesity, tobacco use and other preventable risk factors Just described the black community. Factor out the life expectancy by race (not that I ever expect to see it) and watch what happens.("other preventable risk factors" include diabetes, gun violence, AIDS, drug overdose and alcohol addiction.)



To: Kickass Conservative

>>With today’s technology, you can fish while FReeping, or is it FReep while fishing?<< I think it is called “phishing...?”



To: sinanju

...maybe if our statistics only included Americans we’d do better...not sure, but I suspect so.



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