United States Drops 21 Places in Global Life Expectancy Rankings | Smart News

Life expectancies across the globe are projected to increase by an average of 4.4 years over the next two decades The Lancet The United States will linger far behind other high-income nations, reaching an average lifespan of just 79.8 years by 2040-comparatively, frontrunner Spain is forecast to boast an average lifespan of 85.8 years, while Japan sits at a close second with an expected lifespan of 85.7 years.

NewsweekDaniel Moritz-Rabson reports that the new rankings find the U.S. dropping from 43rd to 64th place. This staggering-21 spot plunge represents the largest decrease for a high-income nation and suggests that Americans born in 2040 as Ed Cara notes for Gizmodo, average life expectancy in 2016 was 78.7, just 1.1 fewer than 2040 projection.

The study, which was led by researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), drew on data from the 2016 Global Burden of Disease in 195 Countries and Territories. Spain, trained in fourth place, edged out Japan to nab first, while Singapore (85.4), Switzerland (85.2) and Portugal (84.5) rounded out the remaining spots in the top five.

According to Agence France Presse, the United States Now in 39th place thanks to an average lifespan of 81.9 years, the Asian Powerhouse has been established at a lowly 68th.

Portugal, which jumping from 23rd to fifth after adding 3.6 years to its average lifespan, and Syria, which will move from 137th to 80th by extending its average lifespan from 68.2 years to 78.6 years-baduming, of course, that the country's devastating civil war soon draws to a close.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, CNN's Rob Picheta writes that the landlocked African country of Lesotho stands in last place with a predicted life expectancy of 57.3 years. In total, 18 African nations sit at the bottom of the rankings and see lives between 6.4 and 9.5 years.

"Inequalities will continue to be broad," IHME Director Christopher Murray said in a statement. "In a substantial number of countries, too many people will continue to earn low incomes, remain poorly educated, and die prematurely.

The top determinants of average lifespan are so-called "lifestyle" diseases, according to AFP. These include high blood pressure, obesity, high blood sugar and alcohol and tobacco use. Air Pollution, which the team estimates is responsible for taking a million lives in China every year, is another key influence.

In general, scientists expect mortality from infectious diseases such as diabetes and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, lung cancer and kidney disease.

CNN's Picheta points out that US life expectancy has actually declined over the past two years, in which part of the country's ongoing opioid crisis, which claimed 63,600 lives in 2016. 18.5 percent of children.

Lifestyle changes could help offset these issues, Brett Molina writes for USA Today. A June report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 23 percent of U.S. adults get enough exercise, while in the US

The team's findings are not set in stone. In fact, the researchers mapped both best- and worst-case scenarios. In the former, we have more than 50 years of earnings, while 46 years of earnings are more than 10 years or more. In the latter, nearly half a year ago, Lesotho standing at just 45.3 years.

"The future of the world is not pre-ordained, and there is a wide range of plausible trajectories," lead author Kyle Foreman, director of data science at IHME, said statement. "But it is important to know how to progress or to stagnate.

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