how long will you live It could be an inspiring or scary
question. But to a demographer it's neither, it's a key
metric that says a lot about the health of a country.
Life expectancy In 1960, the average American's life
expectancy was almost 70 years old. According to the
World Bank. The US ranked 18th in the world. Today the
nation has made progress with an average life
expectancy of 77 but other countries have made great
strides. As of 2020, the us was ranked 61st out of 237
nations. Why have other countries surged ahead And how
could the us improve To answer these questions were
focusing on three countries the U.S. The richest
country in the world. According to the World Bank,
Japan the third richest and chile ranked 43rd. We spoke
to joseph chamie is the former director of the United
Nations population division. Th U.S. Was doing very
well read after World War Two in 1950 55. Relative to
those countries During the Postwar boom, americans
benefited from medical advances like penicillin and
open heart surgery. Japanese men had a life expectancy
of 24 during the war. Thanks in part to combat and food
shortages. Japan's life expecta was lower than the U.S.
In the early fifties of course they have to rebuild
their societies. The new jap Chinese government passed
32. Health laws between 1946 and 1955 aimed at
regulating doctors and nurses requiring school lunches
producing pollution and preventing infectious disease.
Japanese life expectancy shot up 14 years between 1947
and 1955 according to government data. Case of Chile
was even more remarkable Chileans. Life expectancy was
54 years old. In 1950, the Chile in particular saw a
dramatic increase in life expectancy. They were able to
provide health care systems, developing that preven
care, dropping infant mortality rates in child
mortality rates. Meanwhile, in 1961, Japan established
universal health insurance. The government covered half
of everyone's medical costs, but there are many factors
in Japan that were contributing to lower mortality
of them of course was diet and obesity, eating more
fish and more vegetables uh than the American americans
lived longer as the 20th century progressed, but we
also developed some unhealthy habits. The diets started
increasing with greater and greater reliance on
prepared foods commonly called junk foods. More and
more people involved in work and doing less exercise
than the U.S. And many people are lacking health care
systems Uh in place. So uh they are not taking
preventive action early enough to deal with illnesses,
especially the last 2030 years. A drug addiction opiate
have gotten uh become an epidemic level proportion.
Obesity has also gotten much higher in chile and japan.
Uh They're providing health care systems and also
supporting people so they feel integrated in society.
They did some comparisons of japanese who went to
hawaii and California and you fine find that they
change their diet increased obesity and also lower life
expectancy. Because of that diet change, we're spending
a great deal of money is on our health care and doing
not as well as many other countries, including
and chile. Individual responsib is only one area
second providing health care systems and adequate uh
services that assist people so that they will live to
old age. So many factors determine how long will live.
But Shami says learning from other countries, successes
might help us improve longevity here at home, Lindsey
fees, Newsy