When I lived as an expat in Prague, I felt that I lived in a truly unhealthy environment. With all the cigarette smoke, fatty foods, beer drinking, and coal smoke that constantly surrounded me, I couldn’t wait to get my body back to healthy Los Angeles.
Well, as it turns out, America really isn’t all that much better. A recent study has revealed that people in a jaw-dropping 41 countries have higher life expectancies than those in the USA (and no, the Czech Republic is not one of them). This is quite a tumble from 20 years ago when America stood rather proudly at 11th place. Now, even people in countries like Jordan and Guam are living longer lives than most Americans.
A number of factors have naturally contributed towards this demise, with the greatest killer being obesity. Nearly 30% of American adults are considered overweight. Yikes.
So in case you are looking to extend the old ticker, you might want to click on the jump link below to check out the top ten countries with the highest life expectancies. And, of course, since we here at Gadling value the health of our readers, we’ve also included the bottom of the list as well so that you can be sure to avoid these countries.
LONGEST LIVED
• Andorra, 83.5 years
• Japan, 82.0 years
• Macau, 82.0 years
• San Marino, 81.5 years
• Singapore, 81.5 years
• Hong Kong, 81.4 years
• France, 80.4 years
• Australia, 80.3 years
• Sweden, 80.3 years
• Switzerland, 80.3 years
(#42, United States, 77.9 years)
SHORTEST LIVED
• Swaziland, 34.1 years
• Zambia, 36.6 years
• Angola, 36.7 years
• Liberia, 38.1 years
• Zimbabwe, 39.0 years
• Lesotho, 39.5 years
• Sierra Leone, 39.7 years
• Malawi, 40.9 years
• Mozambique, 41.4 years
• Afghanistan, 42.5 years