Lifestyle choices by residents of the United States are a main contributor to lower life expectancy than the advanced democracies. People living in the Unied States are more likely to be obese and die of heart disease than residents of the advanced democracies.
LIFESTYLE Risks
| COLOR CODING | |
|---|---|
| Green | Ranked first for statistic |
| Red | Ranked last for statistic |
| Obesity % | % Alcohol Attributed Traffic Deaths | Heart Disease Mortality Rate | Traffic Fatalities/ 1,000,000 | Drink and Drive Rate (%) | Firearm Fatalities/ 100,000 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 30.4* | 30.0 | 65.4 | 4.34 | – | 0.90 |
| Canada | 24.3* | 33.6 | 79.5 | 4.62 | – | 1.94 |
| Denmark | 18.5 | 22.0 | 50 | 2.22 | 5.7 | 1.11 |
| France | 14.4 | 30.8 | 38.6 | 4.35 | 3.4 | 2.42 |
| Germany | 16.7 | 9.4 | 102.4 | 3.08 | – | 1.01 |
| Italy | 12.0 | 22.6 | 73.7 | 4.86 | 2.5 | 0.97 |
| Japan | 4.6* | 6.2 | 30.4 | 2.55 | – | 0.01 |
| Netherlands | 13.9 | 4.8 | 38.8 | 3.32 | – | 0.44 |
| Norway | 16.0 | 21.0 | 71.8 | 1.48 | 0.2 | 1.52 |
| Sweden | 15.3 | 18.5 | 88.3 | 2.02 | 0.24 | 1.58 |
| United Kingdom | 25.9 | 13.0 | 83.8 | 2.39 | 11.6 | 0.17 |
| United States | 33.5 | 31.0 | 116.7 | 12.93 | – | 12.09 |
Sources
Obesity Percent: OECD
Percent obesity of the total population, self-reported. From 2021 except for Australia (2017), Canada, France, Japan (2019), Norway (2022).
Non-medical Determinants of Health > Body Weight
**countries with measured data (not self-reported) are denoted with an asterisk
Alcohol-Related Traffic Deaths: OECD International Transport Forum
Alcohol-Related Road Casualties in Official Crash Statistics, 2017.
Percent road traffic deaths involving alcohol, for 2010. All countries use a legal limit of 0.5 g/L except for Norway, Sweden, Japan (under 0.5 g/L) and Canada, United Kingdom, United States (0.8 g/L).
Heart Disease Mortality Rates: OECD
Ischemic heart disease (coronary heart disease), deaths per 100,000 (standardized rates).
All data from 2020 except for Canada (2019), Sweden (2018), France, Italy (2017), Norway (2016).
Traffic Fatalities per 1,000,000: OECD
Road accident deaths per million inhabitants, 2021.
Drink and Drive Rate: European Transport Safety Council
Drink Driving: Towards Zero Tolerance, 2012. Percentage of those tested found to be above the legal BAC limit
Fire-arm related death rate: GunPolicy.org
Annual rate of all gun deaths per 100,000 population. All data from 2019 except for France, Norway, United Kingdom (2016), Italy (2017), Canada (2018).
Notes
“How Japan Won Its ‘Traffic War'” David Zipper
September 6, 2022.
“Until the early 1970s, Japan endured a high rate of road fatalities. Now the nation boasts one of the world’s best traffic safety records.”
“No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health” World Health Organization
January 4, 2023.
“The World Health Organization has now published a statement in The Lancet Public Health: when it comes to alcohol consumption, there is no safe amount that does not affect health…. Globally, the WHO European Region has the highest alcohol consumption level and the highest proportion of drinkers in the population.”
Page updated on 8/25/2023.