For Americans Under 50, Stark Findings on Health
Source: NY Times
The findings were stark. Deaths before age 50 accounted for about two-thirds of the difference in life expectancy between males in the United States and their counterparts in 16 other developed countries, and about one-third of the difference for females. The countries in the analysis included Canada, Japan, Australia, France, Germany and Spain.
Car accidents, gun violence and drug overdoses were major contributors to years of life lost by Americans before age 50.
Americans also had the lowest probability over all of surviving to the age of 50. The report’s second chapter details health indicators for youths where the United States ranks near or at the bottom. There are so many that the list takes up four pages. Chronic diseases, including heart disease, also played a role for people under 50.
The panel sought to explain the poor performance. It noted the United States has a highly fragmented health care system, with limited primary care resources and a large uninsured population. It has the highest rates of poverty among the countries studied.
Education also played a role. Americans who have not graduated from high school die from diabetes at three times the rate of those with some college, Dr. Woolf said. In the other countries, more generous social safety nets buffer families from the health consequences of poverty, the report said.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/health/americans-under-50-fare-poorly-on-health-measures-new-report-says.html?_r=0
Please read the whole article - crossposting in Good Reads
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People don't "choose" to be obese. Another element to consider is genetics. People who are at the bottom of the barrel in America have virtually no way out of poverty anymore. We used to have upward mobility, but I think that's pretty much a thing of the past. Those obese people are actually the victims of a sick sick society. Deplorable poverty is the real problem. Just saying... 
We *so* rule!
Researchers sometimes disagree about the pathways leading from inequality to worse population health. The most consistent interpretation of all the evidence is that the main route hinges on the way inequality makes life more stressful. Chronic stress is known to affect the cardiovascular and immune systems and to lead to more rapid aging. Inequality makes social relations more stressful (see section on Trust and Community Life), by increasing status differences and status competition. These effects are important: Americans living in more equal states live around 4 years longer than those living in more unequal states.
This is from The Equality Trust UK report on the effects of inequality on physical health. They also document an increased incidence of obesity in more unequal countries.
