I saw this graph recently, identifying the key contributing factors in the lower life expectancy in the USA:
6 Likes
And most doctors can’t tell a patient they are fat for fear of offending them.
7 Likes
4 Likes
This is accurate but misleading to most of us, as we interpret it slightly differently than we should. The life expectancy of a child born today is not lower than it was for a child born 3 years ago.
This is period life expectancy. Copying from this blog post by an actuary:
Period life expectancy v. cohort life expectancy
Period life expectancy is the life expectancy you hear reported each year in the press, that gets released by the CDC in these reports, etc.
It is taking the mortality experience for the whole population during a specific time period, usually a single year (in this case, 2021), and then calculating life expectancy as if the mortality seen by the full population during that year was the one a person would be seeing during a lifetime. No person actually lives through a mortality pattern like this, because we’re not in a “steady state” for mortality.
Period life expectancy is the flip-side of age-adjusted mortality rates.
Cohort life expectancy is the life expectancy based on one’s birth year, which is the relevant life expectancy for things such as retirement planning. As an actuary, I’m looking at this measure for pensions and annuities.
5 Likes
After speaking with my health insurance agent a couple of days ago, he said that Hong Kong life expectancy has jumped to 87 for males and 90 for females. That would place Hong Kong at the highest life expectancy in the world. I guess COVID made everyone more aware of their health! Also, masks are still mandatory in public. But still, compared to the USA where life expectancy dropped considerably over the same period…
1 Like
The least obesity country in the world is Vietnam.
I don’t know if there are Vietnamese members here, I would like to know how Vietnamese keep such low obesity rate, what’s their diet and living style? we can learn something from them, the obesity rate in Vietnam is 2.1%, that’s very impressing.
3 Likes
I definitely agree that obesity is primarily the cause. Currently, and IMO behind this, sits poor health literacy, along with a reliance/culture of ‘someone else will fix this problem for me’. More recently, cost of living increases also see fresh food much more expensive to purchase then processed (at least in my country- Australia).
1 Like
When Hong Kong has a fatal road accident, it makes the nightly news. No murders (except between family members or gangs), no guns, low crime, great public transport, free healthcare for all, healthy food, small portions, and fewer obese people. Domestic helpers for the elderly. There’s a reason people live longer here.
Actually Hong Kong has the least road accidents in the world, only 1.9 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants per year, and Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy in the world, 85.29 for both sexes.
Hong Kong was supposed to be one of the the safest places in the world, but the Dictator Xi ruined this beautiful place, that’s very sad, I hate dictators, we should develop longevity and improve human living quality, not develop weapons and destroy our earth home.
3 Likes
If you believe my insurance agent, the life expectancy has gone up dramatically this year.
Although he was selling annuities as well so…
2 Likes
Not sure what executions you’re talking about.
From first hand experience of living here and talking with elderly care physicians, there are a lot of long-lived elderly here. Hong Kong statistics are usually pretty spot on. Mainland statistics not so much.
You can choose to believe them or not. That’s your choice. If you don’t like Hong Kong’s statistics, you can always look at Japan’s. They’re a close second for the same reasons.
2 Likes
Not to sound mean, but the pitiful life expectancy in the US is as plain as day. Walk around and just look at the physiques of most citizens! Guts and butts protruding everywhere. I’ve lived in Taipei and travel to Europe frequently and the first thing that hits you upon return stateside is how fat everyone is. Death by diet and lethargy. The car culture…driving from driveway to parking lots repeatedly doesn’t help either.
6 Likes
The United States is doing much worse than its peer countries. On top of the long-term, widening gap, other countries’ prior upward trajectory didn’t crash as hard during the COVID epidemic and they bounced back afterward, while the US continues to fall.
4 Likes
Its not good news at all.
Personally, I’m feeling rather upset specifically that the UK (land of bangers and mash, and all things boiled), is doing better than the US. This is a travesty! I know the average diet in the US is bad, but I find it hard to believe that the UK is better given the food they serve! 
being beaten by Sweden is ok, thats land of the cross-country skiing families, OK - I understand they are healthier than the US. But England?
5 Likes
2 Likes
2 Likes
Strange that the colder states have longer lifespans? Coincidence?
1 Like
As someone noted in the Twitter thread, it’s notable how much Michigan, Maine, and South Florida buck the trend.
California (with 1/10 of the entire US population), southern Texas, and South Florida are clear exceptions.
1 Like
My guess is that it’s education and diet, not weather.
2 Likes