The United States ranks lowest or almost lowest in the indicators on this page.
HEALTH STATUS
| COLOR CODING | |
|---|---|
| Green | Ranked first for statistic |
| Red | Ranked last for statistic |
| Average Life Expectancy (Years) | Infant Mortality | Maternal Mortality | Low Birth Weight | Adult Obesity (%) | Index of Health & Social Problems rankings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 83.2 | 3.2 | 2 | 6.6 | 29.0 | 10 |
| Canada | 81.7 | 4.5 | 8.4 | 6.5 | 29.4 | 7 |
| Denmark | 81.4 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 4.6 | 19.7 | 5 |
| France | 82.5 | 3.6 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 21.6 | 9 |
| Germany | 80.9 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 6.6 | 22.3 | 8 |
| Italy | 82.9 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 6.7 | 19.9 | 6 |
| Japan | 84.7 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 9.4 | 4.3 | 1 |
| Netherlands | 81.5 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 5.6 | 20.4 | 3 |
| Norway | 83.2 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 23.1 | 4 |
| Sweden | 83.2 | 2.4 | 7 | 4.2 | 20.6 | 2 |
| United Kingdom | 80.4 | 3.6 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 27.8 | 11 |
| United States | 77 | 5.4 | 28.3 | 8.2 | 36.2 | 12 |
SOURCES
Columns 1 – 4: OECD (Health)
Average Life Expectancy: Health Status > Life Expectancy
Australia, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, United States (2020). Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden (2021).
Infant Mortality (Deaths per 1000 live births): Health Status > Maternal and Infant Mortality
All data from 2020 except for France (2021).
Maternal Mortality (Deaths per 100,000 live births): Health Status > Maternal and Infant Mortality
All data from 2020 except for France (2015), Italy(2019), United Kingdom (2017), Denmark (2018).
Low Birth Weight (% of total live births): Health Status > Infant Health
All data from 2020 except Italy (2021), Japan (2019) and Germany (2013).
Adult Obesity (%): World Health Organization
Prevalence of obesity in adults, ages 18 and over, 2016.
Index of Health & Social Problems rankings: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
(pg. 27, rankings from graph)
Notes
“Federally-supported initiatives aim to reduce maternal mortality and shed light on the effects of therapeutics on pregnant and lactating women”
Lindsay Milliken, Michael A. Fisher and Federation of American Scientists
June 1, 2021.
FAS. The maternal mortality in the U.S. has been rising since 2000, the worst of all industrialized countries with about 700 deaths each year. NIH initiatives directed towards prescription drugs used by pregnant and lactating women has awarded over $7 million in grants to address disparities in maternal mortality.
“US to drop 21 places in global life expectancy ranking by 2040”
Kristin Hugo
October 19, 2018.
Life expectancy worldwide is expected to keep improving but the U.S. is not increasing as fast as other countries. It is estimated that the U.S. will drop from it’s 2016 rank of 21st to a rank of 43rd by 2040.
“Obesity Keeps Ballooning in U.S., With Rural Areas Seeing Biggest Spikes”
Lisa Esposito
July 11, 2018.
U.S. News. Obesity rates in children and adults keep climbing in the U.S. with the biggest spikes seen in rural areas. Youth obesity has increased from 15.4 percent (2005-2006) to 16.9 percent (2010) to 17 percent (2014) according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. While 5.1 percent of children in metropolitan areas are severely obese, 9.4 percent are considered severely obese in rural parts of the country.
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