US Drops to 49th in the World for Life Expectancy

[kpete]

US Drops to 49th in the World for Life Expectancy,

In 1950, the United States was fifth among the leading industrialized nations with respect to female life expectancy at birth, surpassed only by Sweden, Norway, Australia, and the Netherlands. The last available measure of female life expectancy had the United States ranked at forty-sixth in the world.

As of September 23, 2010, the United States ranked forty-ninth for both male and female life expectancy combined.

http://content.healthaffairs.org/...
MORE:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/10/11/898788/-US-Drops-to-49th-in-the-World-for-Life-Expectancy,-Recent-Study-Shows-Obamas-Health-Plan-Justified

[dkf]

1. I bet we drink more soda than any other country.

[Statistical]

2. Isn't the US one of the leading countries for obesity rates? Wonder if the two are related. n/t

[progressoid]

7. We used to be #1

Seems to me I just read that Mexico beat us and took over the #1 spot this year.

edit: here's an old chart:


# 1 United States: 30.6%
# 2 Mexico: 24.2%
# 3 United Kingdom: 23%
# 4 Slovakia: 22.4%
# 5 Greece: 21.9%
# 6 Australia: 21.7%
# 7 New Zealand: 20.9%
# 8 Hungary: 18.8%
# 9 Luxembourg: 18.4%
# 10 Czech Republic: 14.8%
# 11 Canada: 14.3%
# 12 Spain: 13.1%
# 13 Ireland: 13%
# 14 Germany: 12.9%
= 15 Portugal: 12.8%
= 15 Finland: 12.8%
# 17 Iceland: 12.4%
# 18 Turkey: 12%
# 19 Belgium: 11.7%
# 20 Netherlands: 10%
# 21 Sweden: 9.7%
# 22 Denmark: 9.5%
# 23 France: 9.4%
# 24 Austria: 9.1%
# 25 Italy: 8.5%
# 26 Norway: 8.3%
# 27 Switzerland: 7.7%
= 28 Japan: 3.2%
= 28 Korea, South: 3.2%
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity

[Statistical]

10. Would be interesting to show a chart w/ correlation between obesity rates & life expectancy.

Not to say that is the only factor but I would imagine it is a significant factor.

[WinkyDink]

15. Would be "interesting" to see this pseudo-science and faux-statistics, too.

[Luminous Animal]

20. Have at it....

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/hlthaff.2010.0073v1

[n2doc]

3. USA! USA! USA!

GREATEST country in the world! Yeah! Who needs to live for a long time anyway when you've got such stupendousness all around you. Die and make room for the next generation!

Time to go wolf down a triple whopper with x-tra large fries and soda!

[malaise]

11. This Canuck disagrees

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/858979--gwyn-obama-too-smart-too-black-for-declining-america

[DBoon]

4. We are slowly joining the 3rd world in living standards

and in general social and political mores

[xchrom]

5. Wage stagnation, declining wages, limited access to health care,

Too much access to insurance companies, obesity,
Declining social safety net, increased pressures on worker
Productivity -- and this is what you get.

Keep this up and we won't need the catfood commission at all.

[glitch]

6. Industrialized nutrition and medicine.

That and all our money has been siphoned out of the real economy to be spent on elite wars and financial speculation.

[COLGATE4]

8. WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WE'RE NUMBER ONE! Whoops - ..oh, shit nt

[City Lights]

9. That can't be! We're NUMBER ONE at everything!

If we just keep :patriot: everything will be alright!

[lonestarnot]

12. I think I'll go back to school to become a mortician.

Be see'n ya. :hi:

[CJCRANE]

13. What was it was at the end of the Clinton era?

It would be interesting to compare (i.e. what 8 years of Bushism has done to America).

[Heywood J]

21. Here you go:

( http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr51/nvsr51_03.pdf ), look at page 2. The numbers cited in the article are life expectancy at birth for men and women. In 2000, it was 76.9.

[CJCRANE]

28. Does that show the world ranking?

That's what I was looking for as a comparison.

[WinkyDink]

14. To the "soda" and "obesity" preachers: "What is the biggest problem? Critics say the biggest issue

What is the biggest problem? Critics say the biggest issue is the profit motive that drives US healthcare."
From one of the OP links, which do not include the latest list.

[DLnyc]

16. "Versus", not "Verses"

[Tsiyu]

17. But if you ask the teabaggers

we can't have a Truly American Way of Life unless more people die.

Massive death and poverty are supposed to be the American Way, dammit!

Pull yourself from death by your bootstraps and all that blather!

[Jamastiene]

18. Gee, I wonder if our health care system being inaccessible to

so many in the bottom 99% of the population due to the outlandish cost could have anything to do with it?

[area51]

19. +1

Each day, 273 people die due to lack of health care in the U.S.; that's 100,000 deaths per year.

We need single-payer health care, not a welfare bailout for the serial-killer insurance agencies.

We don't need the GingrichCare of mandated, unregulated, for-profit insurance that is still too expensive, only pays parts of medical bills, denies claims, bankrupts and kills people. Republinazi '93 plan:

"Subtitle F: Universal Coverage - Requires each citizen or lawful permanent resident to be covered under a qualified health plan or equivalent health care program by January 1, 2005."

"We will never have real reform until people's health stops being treated as a financial opportunity for corporations."

[1955doubledie]

22. Kicked and recced

:kick:

[TexasObserver]

23. Blame our crappy FOR PROFIT health care system.

They're in bed with the health care insurance industry, the drug companies, and each other.

They don't care about anything but the bottom line.

[Rex]

24. In 1950 we actually had a monetary system created to help

the average worker retire and have a pension to rely on until death. Now we watch corporations pick over the bones of our former system. Pensions? 401k? All expendable wealth to the ruling elite. Human capital and all that. 3rd world status is a Nancy Grace Guarantee with Repukes running/obstructing our system to better disrupt our well documented social benefits when we CARE and not HARM.

[donheld]

25. Yes but, Rah Rah Rah we're the best

:sad:

[Johonny]

26. why do Americans die before other countries

we want to

[JoeyT]

27. It couldn't possibly be stress from the constant fearmongering in the media and the never ending

threat of losing your job (if you're lucky enough to have one), the ever present threat of losing your house, or the shitty healthcare system that a lot of people can't afford to use anyway, or that everyone's pissed off at everyone all the time, or even that we have a huge population explosion that's getting into their 60s now. No, it must be fat people sayeth the wisdom of the internets.

I guess the infant mortality rate is because of all those babies eating cheeseburgers and fries. I bet they've been spiking their milk with fructose, too. It can't possibly be because of poverty and lack of health care.

Not directed at you, kpete. Any thread about health will generally have a bunch of people immediately posting what amounts to "LOL fat people suck!".