New Health Study Shows Western Europeans Live Longer Than Americans
LOS ANGELES (CBS) —A new study released Thursday by the University of Southern California, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the RAND corp. states on average, Americans live about a year-and-a-half less than Western Europeans because of higher levels of obesity rates.
The study, which appears in the July issue of Social Science & Medicine, also indicated Americans live less than the residents of most other developed nations.
Researchers found that the life-expectancy disparity — which begins around the age of 50 — stems from higher levels of middle-age obesity and obesity-related chronic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes.
The study calculates the fiscal consequences of the growing life-expectancy gap over the next few decades.
