Wanna read something scary...

Gear

New member
To me this is pretty frightening and embarrasing... and it should be.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/17/internationalaidanddevelopment.usa

Despite spending $230m (£115m) an hour on healthcare, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country. And while it has the second-highest income per head in the world, the United States ranks 42nd in terms of life expectancy.

The American Human Development Report [...] paints a surprising picture of a country that spends well over $5bn each day on healthcare - more per person than any other country.

As a result, the US is ranked 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in terms of infants surviving to age one. The US infant mortality rate is on a par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia and Poland. If the US could match top-ranked Sweden, about 20,000 more American babies a year would live to their first birthday.

The US has a higher percentage of children living in poverty than any of the world's richest countries.

It also reveals 14% of the population - some 40 million Americans - lack the literacy skills to perform simple, everyday tasks such as understanding newspaper articles and instruction manuals.

Well. What a wake up.
 

indy34

New member
vaxer said:
Americans needs to learn how to eat, that's why life expectancy is so low.
My thoughts exactly but I can't talk Australia is the second fattest county:eek: I don't know how it happens to a sports obsessed country:(
 

roundshort

Active member
vaxer said:
Americans needs to learn how to eat, that's why life expectancy is so low.

Actually, the tide is shifting. Us fat Americans are very slowly learning how to eat. But, Europe on the other hand is forgetting. Look at the growth of fast food in Europe, especially France.

The thought is like all paradigms, the US will learn to eat better, while Europeans will become attracted to the cheap slutty food, like Burger king etc.

Wine consumption is going up in the US, and down in Europe. BUT, We Americans have a LONG way to go!
 

Gear

New member
Actually, a recent study concluded that Australia has become that fatest country in the world. But America, Russia, and others of Europe aren't much better.
 
Last edited:

AngieAki

New member
Jesus Christ!
"It also reveals 14% of the population - some 40 million Americans - lack the literacy skills to perform simple, everyday tasks such as understanding newspaper articles and instruction manuals."
That is scary.
The thing is, those people are probably voting.
I hope those numbers are wrong.
I really really do.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
roundshort said:
Actually, the tide is shifting. Us fat Americans are very slowly learning how to eat. But, Europe on the other hand is forgetting. Look at the growth of fast food in Europe, especially France.

The thought is like all paradigms, the US will learn to eat better, while Europeans will become attracted to the cheap slutty food, like Burger king etc.
The Europeans will fare better in the long run if they continue in moderation as their fast food menus can testify.
In Switzerland (and, I think, France) there are no Large Fries or Drinks at McDonald's. The only choices are Small and Medium!?!?
It's also interesting to see which European cities are predominantly Burger King, while others (most) have McD's.
(Kentucky Fried Chicken is really popular in Prague.)

Where I am La Suisse, obesity is non-existant!
 

Gear

New member
Thats how fast food used to be. In fact, at A&W they used to have special drinks for kids which were like, what, half the size of a modern "small".
 

Gustav

New member
This doesn't scare me as much as grind my gears. If you want to see where Americans are going, go see Wall E.
 

Gear

New member
This is the same song and dance we've all heard, with some new moves;

http://www.reuters.com/article/heal...edType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&rpc=22&sp=true

"If the trends of the past three decades continue, it's possible that every American adult could be overweight 40 years from now, a government-funded study projects."

" ...the researchers estimate that 86 percent of American adults will be overweight by 2030, with an obesity rate of 51 percent. By 2048, all U.S. adults could be at least mildly overweight."


Wow.

My parents have told me that when they were kids, obesity was a rarity. Forget about the future, now, quite frankly, it's the oposite.
 
Top