Lifestyle choices by residents of the United States are a main contributor to lower life expectancy than the advanced democracies. People living in the United States are more likely to be obese and die of heart disease than residents of the advanced democracies.

A new analysis from the World Health Organization (WHO) published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

The study, Intimate partner violence against adolescent girls: regional and national prevalence estimates and associated country-level factors, analyzes both lifetime prevalence and prevalence over the past 12 months of physical and/or sexual partner violence against 15-19 year old girls. Other types of violence, including psychological violence, are not included due to lack of an agreed internationally comparable measure.

Note from International Comparisons on the above article: we struggled to find the appropriate location for this article. Domestic violence is an international issue. We acknowledge that both men and women are subject to domestic violence. We saw this article and wanted to post the link right away. We will be researching further.

Female LIFESTYLE Risks

COLOR CODING
GreenRanked first for statistic
RedRanked last for statistic
FEMALESMeasured Obesity %Physical Inactivity %Teen Birth Rate per 1,000Abortion Rate per 1,000Heart Disease Mortality RateCigarette Mortality %
Australia29.333.613.841644.410.5
Canada21.0*31.49.461255.715.5
Denmark18.3*31.23.961232.221.6
France15.2*34.08.8115.538.98.2
Germany14.7*44.16.435.470.810.5
Italy11.1*46.25.944.953.98.9
Japan3.837.03.97617.86.4
Netherlands16.1*29.03.88725.616.7
Norway12.0*33.85.861150.49.6
Sweden14.9*24.75.701762.414.4
United Kingdom29.140.013.9518.651.817.9
United States33.8*48.021.214.482.116.7

Sources

Measured Obesity Percent: OECD

Percent of female population. All from 2021 except Australia (2017), France, Japan, Norway, United Kingdom (2019). Non-medical Determinants of Health > Body Weight.
**countries with self-reported data are denoted with an asterisk

Physical Inactivity Percent: World Health Organization

Prevalence of insufficient physical activity among adults 18+ (age standardized estimates). 2016.

Teen Birth Rate per 1,000: PopulationPyramid.net

Births per 1,000 women ages 15-19. Accessed 9/13/2024.

Abortion Rate per 1,000: World Population Review

Rate per 1,000. Data from 2019 except for Germany, Italy, United States (2020), France, United Kingdom (2021).

Heart Disease Mortality Rates: OECD

Causes of mortality, ischemic heart disease (coronary heart disease), deaths per 100,000 females (standardized rates). All data from 2020 except for Norway (2016), France, Italy (2017), Sweden (2018), Canada (2019).

Cigarette Mortality Percent: The Tobacco Atlas

Percent deaths caused by tobacco, 2019.

Alcohol Consumption

Female lifestyle risks does not include alcohol consumption while male lifestyle risks does. The range for female alcohol consumption goes from 2.8 liters per year of pure alcohol per capita ages 15+ to 5.9, while for men it goes from 11.6 to 21.3.  Women have far less risk from alcohol. Source of alcohol consumption.

Page updated on 2/17/2024.