U.S. life expectancy will soon be on par with Mexicos and the Czech Republics

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Washington Post

U.S. life expectancy will soon be on par with Mexico’s and the Czech Republic’s

By Lenny Bernstein February 21 at 6:30 PM



Life expectancy at birth will continue to climb substantially for residents of industrialized nations — but not in the United States, where minimal gains will soon put life spans on par with those in Mexico and the Czech Republic, according to an extensive analysis released Tuesday.

South Korean women and Hungarian men are projected to make the largest overall gains (with South Koreans second among males). There is a better-than-even chance that South Korean women will live to an average of 90 years old by 2030, which would be the first time a population will break the 90-year barrier, according to the research published in The Lancet.

Not so in the United States. “Notable among poor-performing countries is the USA,” the researchers wrote, “whose life expectancy at birth is already lower than most other high-income countries, and is projected to fall further behind, such that its 2030 life expectancy at birth might be similar to the Czech Republic for men, and Croatia and Mexico for women.”

. . .

The reasons for the United States' lag are well known. It has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates of any of the countries in the study, and the highest obesity rate. It is the only one without universal health insurance coverage and has the “largest share of unmet health-care needs due to financial costs,” the researchers wrote.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/02/21/us-life-expectancy-will-soon-be-on-par-with-mexicos-and-croatias/?utm_term=.cac8af3a5bd3

[Doreen]

1. If Trump has his way it will be worse for women than this article states.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. RepubliconCare Emergency Room visit care / bankrupt care

[former9thward]

4. We were told the ACA would solve that problem.

It didn't?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. It did a lot. Republicon repeal of ACA would take us back to Emergency Room Care. . . . nt

[former9thward]

7. So why are you giving that as a reason for life expectancy going down?

Which is what the OP is about. Did it solve it or not?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. I am not giving it as a reason. Exactly the opposite. My fault for not being crystal clear.

I probably also meant to reply to the first reply, not to the OP, because that reply mentioned tRump (and by implication Republicons).

Republicon plans to repeal ObamaCare without a proper or better replacement will result in more mortality and more ill health because more people will be forced (as before) to go to the Emergency Room for care since they won't have insurance. Further, more people will be forced into bankruptcy by existing conditions and lack of insurance. Bankruptcy and the related stresses are themselves bad for health.

Clearer?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. I don't remember anyone saying ACA would solve all our problems.

I mean yes, that's what asshole republicans now whine about and play stupid when, in fact, they know they did their best to water ACA down and block implementation as best as possible.

And yes, they had help from a handful of conservadems. A handful of conservadems and the ENTIRE Republican Party.

The only people playing dumb now and claiming anyone said ACA would solve all our problems are regressive dickehead conservatives and republicans.

[YOHABLO]

3. Richest country in the world, and ridiculously terrible healthcare.

[former9thward]

6. Healthcare can't solve obesity.

The diseases that result can't be cured with a pill or anything else.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. Healthcare DOES help. But you'll need to drop the "solve" and "cure" mentality to get there.

Using words like "solve" and "cure" are examples of binary thinking, of all-or-nothing thinking. In many cases it does not apply to health care.

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

Health care includes preventative medicine and that includes counseling. Lifestyle counseling is effective, though not with all people and not necessarily all the time, and not necessarily 100%. It doesn't have to get a person to an ideal weight (a "cure&quot to have a positive effect. It doesn't have to get everybody to a healthy weight ("solving" the problem).

Health care includes things like blood analysis. That can show how some aspects of diet are having effects (triglycerides, for example), and that can be motivating to the person or help point them to ways that would turn their motivation into results.

The diseases that result from obesity CAN be helped and sometimes even "cured" (put into remission) by a pill AND other things ("anything else&quot . Obesity is contributing factor to cancer, heart disease, lung disease, liver disease, and diabetes, among other things. Obese people are more likely to get gangrene, for example. An amputation, which requires surgery ("anything else&quot certainly does "cure" gangrene. There are many medical treatments that can put cancer into remission and make 5-year survivors (the standard for saying "cured", generally).

I'm not sure what you are trying to say because what you wrote does not make sense or accord with facts. Perhaps you mean something else or perhaps it needs elaboration.

[TexasBushwhacker]

13. And bariatric surgery often reverses diabetes

While it is expensive ($15 to $25K), it is far cheaper than treating the diseases associated with obesity.

[MountCleaners]

14. Many people who are obese are poor or working-class

I work with such people, and they really don't know much about diet or nutrition. They
don't know how many vegetables they are supposed to eat. They don't know how many calories are
in fast food. A doctor can advise them on these things, like lowering your cholesterol. A lot of
people I work with have a problem with soda - they don't realize how bad it is for you, and that
it should not be a substitute for water.

Fast food should be a treat, not a regular meal. A lot of people think that if someone is selling it,
it must be okay.

[meadowlander]

15. And a lot of people know about diet and nutrition

and are just too exhausted and worn down by their work schedules and their family commitments and all the other stresses and cascading failures of their lives to eat properly.

When I was working 80 hours a week (and still only earning $20K a year after taxes) I lived on fritos, string cheese and gatorade for months at a time. I would go weeks without a day off to go shopping, let alone to meal plan or cook anything.

And I didn't have kids or aging parents at the time. I basically lived in my car, driving between shifts, and then went home to crash, sleep six hours, do laundry if I had a rare more than two or three conscious hours at home, and then back to work.

My coworkers knew that soda was bad for them and that they should be eating real food. And they would make little gestures like going to taco bell instead of mcdonalds because at least the tacos had some lettuce in them.

They didn't have potable drinking water at home and none was provided at work so rather than pay $1.50 for bottled water, they paid $1 for something caloric.

And after years associating stress with junk food, that's where they turn for comfort when they have health crises or they have to care for family members in the hospital. They end up in a trap of too exhausted to eat properly -> eating crap which makes them feel terrible -> too exhausted to eat properly.

[former9thward]

20. Really?

Haven't there always been "poor and working class people"? How come obesity is exploding as we become less poor and less working class? Go by any elementary or high school in a well off area and then tell me its a problem of the poor.

[hunter]

19. No worries, we'll be number one again when we add Russian style alcoholism and drug addiction...

... to the mix.

That's why we elected Trump, right?

Trump will get rid of all those productive immigrants who are preventing negative growth rates.

[former9thward]

21. You win the word salad of the thread award.

[hunter]

22. Go ahead. Tell me more.

[dalton99a]

9. +1

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. Making America great again

Greatest numbers of premature deaths

[Bayard]

12. McDonalds and Pizza Hut

I'd be willing to bet that South Korean women are not big on that diet.

[Kimchijeon]

18. right, smaller portions of anything like that

fatshaming is still part of daily life there, no one wants to get fat

[tenorly]

16. With the caveat that Mexican vital statistics are but estimates, since the data are incomplete.

This is the UN Statistical Division's own conclusion, and it's just impossible to accurate calculate life expectancy without complete birth and death data.

That said, there is no doubt Mexico's vital statistics are much closer to those of the U.S. than they were in the past.