Americans die younger (S/O perspective)

[Cheesecake]

According to American research, Americans live shorter lives than people in other western/developed countries. American men live about 5 years shorter than Swiss guys, and American women about 5 years shorter than Japanese (the 2 countries with highest average life expectancy). The shorter life apparently is spread over all age groups, both higher infant mortility, and old people not getting as old.

People in the US apparently smoke and drink way less than people in all of those other countries and spend about double the amount on healthcare.

From USA today:
"The USA has had the highest infant mortality rate of any developed country for several decades, due partly to a high rate of premature birth. With more than one in five American children living in poverty, the USA also has the highest child poverty rate, the report says.

The USA ranks at or near the bottom in nine key areas of health: low birth weight; injuries and homicides; teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections; HIV and AIDS; drug-related deaths; obesity and diabetes; heart disease; chronic lung disease; and general disability.

These poor outcomes are especially depressing, because the USA spends twice as much on healthcare -- about $9,000 per person -- as other industrial countries, says Gerard Anderson of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, who was not involved in the report."

Full article here: www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/09/americans-health-mortality-illness/1818903/

[echo]

I think that a lot of Americans live more frantic/stressful lives than people in other countries.

[Deleted]

i read somewhere this morning that our life expectancy is lower because of violence

[clogged]

You expect people to be married to their jobs, work overtime and extended days, and don't give them adequate time off for vacations/illness? No brainer why people die younger. Worked to death.

[crimsonandclover]

Jan 10, 2013 8:20:17 GMT -5 clogged said:

You expect people to be married to their jobs, work overtime and extended days, and don't give them adequate time off for vacations/illness? No brainer why people die younger. Worked to death.

:Y:

Plus stress about health insurance benefits, no health insurance, etc

[Cioccolato]

Greatest country on earth! Sorry, had to say it...

[frlcb]

And....the American bashing begins again. It happens around every 6 months on here, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

[Waffles]

Without wanting to turn this into a healthcare debate, I suspect these figures would change for the better if everyone in the US had healthcare cover.

[Deleted]

I feel like americans "require" more to be happy, and I'm absolutely guilty. What do 2 bnob adults and a dog need a 2600sqft, 4br house for? To fill up with crap they don't need, of course.

I big part of me is relieved for this move because we're being forced to downsize significantly and simplify our lives. I love the danish mentality of having "just enough."

[Wanderista]

There are some interesting points raised in this thread and there are definitely cultural trends at play, however, I don't pay all that much attention to these life expectancy averages. Heck, aren't the Japanese notorious for their lack of work-life balance and the amount of stress that they can experience?

Average life expectancies are all well and good but there is so much variance between families and individuals. I actually know some people who have no desire to be old at all (mostly men). I have a British friend who says he will shoot himself if he makes it to 80, he doesn't want to be older than that. He's not depressed about it, just matter-of-fact. There are some people who have no interest in living as long as possible. (I am not one of these).

As for "America-bashing", it's a complex thing. I think that America does need to think critically and because the culture is generally so insulated, the perspective of a lot of Americans is rather skewed. There are a lot of Americans who do indeed need to take a good, hard look at their lifestyles and their mentalities. That said, America is still a generally wonderful and complex place. There is a lot to admire and a lot that it gives to the world.

As I've said before though, I don't like thinking too much in the prism of nationality anyway.

[Cioccolato]

Every country has issues. I'm fine with Switzerland bashing.

[Deleted]

Jan 10, 2013 9:29:44 GMT -5 frlcb said:

And....the American bashing begins again. It happens around every 6 months on here, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Who was american bashing?

[Cheesecake]

I just thought it was an interesting article, no bashing here. It actually made the Dutch news, so I looked up American reporting on it. And as I wrote in my OP, apparently people in the US smoke and drink (standard causes/claims for people dying younger) significantly less than people in those other countries.
Apparently the results really surprised the researchers as well.

I find this sort of thing interesting. I think the reasons people have mentioned on here could definitely be part of it. I do wonder about the low birth weight/high infant mortality though. Are there ladies on here who've had a baby in the US and in another first world county who might be able to provide insight into this? (Or would it be due to the many scheduled c-sections (and fairly early inductions) that ultimately always happen before you would give birth naturally?)

[crimsonandclover]

Jan 10, 2013 13:00:03 GMT -5 @myblue said:

Jan 10, 2013 9:29:44 GMT -5 frlcb said:

And....the American bashing begins again. It happens around every 6 months on here, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Who was american bashing?

I was wondering, too, whether frlcb was maybe referring to me? I wasn't trying to America-bash, but there things about the US system that are seriously awry and I don't think it's wrong to say so. There are also serious things wrong with aspects of various German systems which I have also discussed on here (don't even get me started on the school system). Work-life balance is as much an issue for us here as it is for many in the US, but things like job security (or lack thereof) are so much worse in the US in my opinion. And I don't think it's wrong or should be considered America-bashing to say so.

[Deleted]

It is interesting, I would think stress could definitely be a part of it. I didn't know that americans drank less than other countries. I'm not surprised about the smoking though. The French have a disgusting smoking habit. I have never seen anything comparable in the US, but I'm sure there are some cities that have more smokers.

[Cioccolato]

I think she was refering to me.

[Cioccolato]

Americans drinking less surprised me!

[frlcb]

Jan 10, 2013 13:43:06 GMT -5 Cioccolato said:

I think she was refering to me.

I wasn't actually specifically referring to you, this seriously does happen every few months when someone posts an article of this sort and all these reasons why America sucks get posted. I just think it is funny how often it happens.

My understanding with the high infant mortality is because of higher rates of premature births and a whole slew of other factors. I have had a baby in the US and in the UK and my experiences were incredibly parallel in every sense, and both kids were born at exactly the same gestational age, and my dd, who was born in the US, weighed over a pound more than my son.

[Cheesecake]

I guess the drinking less might be an average. I know a lot of people in the US who don't drink (or just 1 glass of champagne a year or something) and a lot of people who are on the other side of the spectrum and actually drink too much. If I look at the European countries I know and people there, I don't think I know anyone who doesn't drink at all (except for when they're pregnant).

It could very well be that the non-drinkers really bring down the drinkers-numbers in the US (in which case it might actually explain something too, as drinking too much is bad for health and life expectancy, but not drinking at all doesn't necessarily improve life expectancy over light to moderate drinkers.)

[Cioccolato]

I drink often on both continents :-).

[Cheesecake]

You also are alive, so what you do isn't part of this study ;P

I have no idea about the drinking though, besides the theory I posted before OR that people lie about the amount they drink...

Sent from my phone, please disregard typos!

[Cioccolato]

lies!

[clogged]

Jan 10, 2013 12:12:19 GMT -5 Wanderista said:

There are some interesting points raised in this thread and there are definitely cultural trends at play, however, I don't pay all that much attention to these life expectancy averages. Heck, aren't the Japanese notorious for their lack of work-life balance and the amount of stress that they can experience?

It was Japanese to American women. I bet if they compared men the results would be much closer to each other.

[Cheesecake]

Jan 10, 2013 16:06:13 GMT -5 clogged said:

Jan 10, 2013 12:12:19 GMT -5 Wanderista said:

There are some interesting points raised in this thread and there are definitely cultural trends at play, however, I don't pay all that much attention to these life expectancy averages. Heck, aren't the Japanese notorious for their lack of work-life balance and the amount of stress that they can experience?

It was Japanese to American women. I bet if they compared men the results would be much closer to each other.

With men, the biggest difference was Swiss and American.
Soooooo, Pistache. Are Swiss guys all super healthy and stuff?

Sent from my phone, please disregard typos!

[Wanderista]

Jan 10, 2013 16:06:13 GMT -5 clogged said:

Jan 10, 2013 12:12:19 GMT -5 Wanderista said:

There are some interesting points raised in this thread and there are definitely cultural trends at play, however, I don't pay all that much attention to these life expectancy averages. Heck, aren't the Japanese notorious for their lack of work-life balance and the amount of stress that they can experience?

It was Japanese to American women. I bet if they compared men the results would be much closer to each other.

Interesting. But the Japanese have generally high life expectancy including the men, don't they? They're known for their excellent diet and cultural mindfulness, but they are definitely known for having intense pressure/stress. It's the land that invented the multigenerational mortgage.

That said, I do think that American culture these days does tend towards being overly stressed, overly worked, and overly materialistic unfortunately. Certainly post-boom and bust.

[Wanderista]

As far as smoking and drinking go, I know two friends who have had alcoholic/heavily-smoking/erratically abusive fathers (they were each this way until they died, unable to break their addictions). One is an American and one is a European. Both of them died at the same age, 68, of different forms of cancer.

These are all anecdotes, of course, but I've known a few other people who had similar histories, either alcoholics or lifelong smokers. They've tended to pass away in their late 60s or in the case of a few who are in their early 60s, they've started to have heart attacks. That said, I know a European man who doesn't smoke or drink and who has recently had a series of heart attacks in his mid-60s.

That's the thing, there are trends and then there are always outliers throwing things off in either direction. Look at celebrity drug addicts for another case. Being an unrecovered drug addict is generally agreed to be a bad thing. Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, etc, have joined the tragic statistics. Yet, Keith Richards is still going strong at 69.

[Cioccolato]

Jan 10, 2013 16:13:32 GMT -5 Cheesecake said:

Jan 10, 2013 16:06:13 GMT -5 clogged said:

It was Japanese to American women. I bet if they compared men the results would be much closer to each other.

With men, the biggest difference was Swiss and American.
Soooooo, Pistache. Are Swiss guys all super healthy and stuff?

Sent from my phone, please disregard typos!

Yes, I've read Switzeeland is the thinnest Western country.