10-09-2022, 10:59 AM
Edward Luce SEPTEMBER 8 2022
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At 76, Americans now live shorter lives than their peers in China and only a year longer than the citizens of supposedly benighted Mexico. People in Japan, Italy and Spain, on the other hand, can expect to live until around 84. Your people’s longevity is the ultimate test of a system’s ability to deliver. Yet neither Democrats nor Republicans, presidents or legislators, seem too bothered.
Do Americans no longer care how long they live? The answer is obviously no.
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US life expectancy has fallen in six of the last seven years and is now almost three years below what it was in 2014. The last time it fell in consecutive years was during the first world war.
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The biggest drivers of America’s morbid trajectory are politically hard to confront — rising obesity, the opioid epidemic and Covid. Over 40 per cent of US adults are now classified as obese
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More than half of American adults suffer from a chronic condition, most of which are associated with obesity, such as diabetes, hypertension and heart problems.
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This partly explains America’s unusually high death rate from coronavirus. Almost two-thirds of Americans hospitalised with Covid were suffering from at least one pre-existing condition.
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Yet targeting obesity has little political upside. Insulting almost half your adult population is not a great way to win votes.
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Meanwhile “fat shaming” has joined liberal America’s list of taboos. The “fat acceptance” movement is growing apace.
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A US Marines general recently testified to Congress that last year was “arguably the most challenging in recruiting history”, chiefly because American youths are failing the military’s physical tests. The country suffers from other early death contributors, such as road accidents and gun violence. But the combination of rife pre-existing conditions and drug deaths makes the US exceptional in ways it cannot want. The fact that America spends 53 per cent more on healthcare per citizen than the next highest ranked country (Switzerland) shows it is also getting very poor value for money. Even relatively stretched systems, such as Britain’s NHS, show far better outcomes. Britain’s life expectancy is almost 82.
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The country’s unequal healthcare coverage means that by the time people are arguing with insurers from their hospital beds, or struggling to pay for their cornucopia of drug prescriptions, it is too late.
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Joe Biden, who is now almost four years older than his country’s average lifespan, could make a virtue of his age. He should start by speaking plainly about America’s mortality crisis.
https://www.ft.com/content/6ff4bc06-ea5c...e13a7597bb
......
At 76, Americans now live shorter lives than their peers in China and only a year longer than the citizens of supposedly benighted Mexico. People in Japan, Italy and Spain, on the other hand, can expect to live until around 84. Your people’s longevity is the ultimate test of a system’s ability to deliver. Yet neither Democrats nor Republicans, presidents or legislators, seem too bothered.
Do Americans no longer care how long they live? The answer is obviously no.
......
US life expectancy has fallen in six of the last seven years and is now almost three years below what it was in 2014. The last time it fell in consecutive years was during the first world war.
......
The biggest drivers of America’s morbid trajectory are politically hard to confront — rising obesity, the opioid epidemic and Covid. Over 40 per cent of US adults are now classified as obese
......
More than half of American adults suffer from a chronic condition, most of which are associated with obesity, such as diabetes, hypertension and heart problems.
......
This partly explains America’s unusually high death rate from coronavirus. Almost two-thirds of Americans hospitalised with Covid were suffering from at least one pre-existing condition.
......
Yet targeting obesity has little political upside. Insulting almost half your adult population is not a great way to win votes.
......
Meanwhile “fat shaming” has joined liberal America’s list of taboos. The “fat acceptance” movement is growing apace.
......
A US Marines general recently testified to Congress that last year was “arguably the most challenging in recruiting history”, chiefly because American youths are failing the military’s physical tests. The country suffers from other early death contributors, such as road accidents and gun violence. But the combination of rife pre-existing conditions and drug deaths makes the US exceptional in ways it cannot want. The fact that America spends 53 per cent more on healthcare per citizen than the next highest ranked country (Switzerland) shows it is also getting very poor value for money. Even relatively stretched systems, such as Britain’s NHS, show far better outcomes. Britain’s life expectancy is almost 82.
......
The country’s unequal healthcare coverage means that by the time people are arguing with insurers from their hospital beds, or struggling to pay for their cornucopia of drug prescriptions, it is too late.
......
Joe Biden, who is now almost four years older than his country’s average lifespan, could make a virtue of his age. He should start by speaking plainly about America’s mortality crisis.
https://www.ft.com/content/6ff4bc06-ea5c...e13a7597bb
