Rates of obesity and overweight in Australia, UK and New Zealand are about as bad as the US, but their life expectancy is 3-4 years longer than ours. 81-82 there vs 78 here.
Greece has one of the highest smoking rates of western nations, supposedly 40% smoke, but their life expectancy is still 81.
I really don’t understand the connection between poor lifestyle and life expectancy on the national level. It seems almost like rates of smoking and obesity are not that important for national life expectancy. No idea why. On the personal level they can take 5-10 years off supposedly.
We shouldn’t be talking only about life expectancy.
We should be talking about QUALITY of life. What good is living to 80 years old if you have spent the last 20 years in such an unhealthy state that you can barely walk from the parking lot to the entrance of the local Walmart? And the reason you are still alive is because you are taking a series of pills that have all kinds of unpleasant side effects.
The reason most older people can’t walk well and have to take pills to survive is because when they were younger they ate too much and what they ate contained too much fat, sugar and salt. They also neglected to exercise. And at the time, they KNEW they had an unhealthy lifestyle, but couldn’t be bothered to change.
And the thing is that its often not too late to go to a fitness doctor and have them put you on a diet and exercise routine even if you are in your eighties. People do it all the time.