[Novo]

people living in England enjoy better health than Americans, despite less investment in healthcare, research published in the US has revealed.

Across all ages, US residents tend to fare worse in terms of diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease markers, data on over 100,000 people show.

The reason remains a mystery, says the US team, and challenges the idea that resources necessarily improve health.

It may be due to the UK's bigger drive on disease prevention, they say.

Transatlantic health gap


Despite the greater use of health care technology in the US, Americans receive less preventive health care than their English counterparts.

They have fewer physician consultations per year.

Acute hospital visits are also shorter in the US, potentially resulting in missed opportunities for follow-up, say the report authors in the American Journal of Epidemiology.


It is also possible that differences in social or environmental conditions or lifestyle play a role.

But despite looking, the researchers did not find any real evidence that differences in obesity, alcohol consumption or physical activity were to blame.

Smoking may be a factor, but Dr Melissa Martinson and colleagues doubt it because even younger Americans who have not yet been exposed to decades of tobacco smoke appear to be in worse health than English counterparts.

And although a larger share of Americans are uninsured or under insured compared to populations in England or other European countries, even groups with good access to health insurance experienced worse health than people in England.

The researchers say: "Why health status differs so dramatically in these two countries, which share much in terms of history and culture, is an unresolved puzzle.

"Given our finding of health differences between the US and England at young ages, a promising focus of future research - one that could help to elucidate the causes of poor health across the life course - is on health differences between countries at the earliest ages."

Public health experts suggested more generous holiday entitlements and more favourable working conditions in the UK might also play a part.

A spokesperson from the Department of Health said: "The NHS offers care free to all at the point of use and based on need.

"Whilst in some areas our outcomes may be favourable compared with those in the US, we are still clear that we have a long way to go before we achieve outcomes comparable with the best performing health systems.

"That is exactly why we are modernising the NHS."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12674976

LostAlex will enjoy reading this

[Smithy]

I didn't need to read this to know it... :S

Isn't it just common knowledge that 70% of Americans are obese or something

[Novo]

Well this clears it up for some very silly members then

[Shaun]

-waits for lostalex-

[DDRickyDD]

It's because people in western Europe have a much higher standard of living than people living in North America.

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by DDRickyDD

It's because people in western Europe have a much higher standard of living than people living in North America.

Not really; "On comprehensive measures such as the UN Human Development Index the United States is always in the top twenty, currently ranking 4th. On the Human Poverty Index the United States ranked 17th, one rank below the United Kingdom and one rank above Ireland.[4] On the Economist's quality-of-life index the United States ranked 13th, in between Finland and Canada, scoring 7.6 out of a possible 10. The highest given score of 8.3 was applied to Ireland. This particular index takes into account a variety of socio-economic variables including GDP per capita, life expectancy, political stability, family life, community life, gender equality, and job security"

[lostalex]

It would be interesting if they compared just white people that make between 80-125k a year from both countries.

Obviously the US has more black and brown people. And it's been shown over and over again that black and latino people are far more unhealthy than white people. They have higher rates of obesity, and diabetes and addiction and various other health problems.

So i guess really this result is not suprising, but it really doesn't say anything about the comparison between countries. Just that we have more black and brown people.

Socio-economics and race have a lot to do with health.

Look at the life expectancy of aboriginals in Australia, compared to the life expectancy of white Australians. The difference is incredible. Same is true of first nations people in Canada.

I don't know why people of color have poorer health, but it's certainly true.

[Smithy]

Oh my...

[Niall]

Well we obv have better health because of our health care system that actually is available to each and every citizen unlike that crooked insurance thing they have going on in the U.S.

Originally Posted by lostalex

It would be interesting if they compared just white people that make between 80-125k a year from both countries.

Obviously the US has more black and brown people. And it's been shown over and over again that black and latino people are far more unhealthy than white people. They have higher rates of obesity, and diabetes and addiction and various other health problems.

So i guess really this result is not suprising, but it really doesn't say anything about the comparison between countries. Just that we have more black and brown people.

Socio-economics and race have a lot to do with health.

Look at the life expectancy of aboriginals in Australia, compared to the life expectancy of white Australians. The difference is incredible. Same is true of first nations people in Canada.

I don't know why people of color have poorer health, but it's certainly true.

Are you for real?

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Niall

Are you for real?

You didn't know that? It's been a pretty big issue you hear about often, especially from charity groups, about the disparity of health in minority communities.

[Niall]

Originally Posted by lostalex

You didn't know that? It's been a pretty big issue you hear about often, especially from charity groups, about the disparity of health in minority communities.

Well it sounds very dodgy to me

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Niall

Well it sounds very dodgy to me

http://www.ahrq.gov/research/diabdisp.htm

High Diabetes Rates for Minorities
"Identifying disparities is a first step toward understanding what causes them and what can be done to reduce them.

Different studies found that African Americans are from 1.4 to 2.2 times more likely to have diabetes than white persons.
Hispanic Americans have a higher prevalence of diabetes than non-Hispanic people, with the highest rates for type 2 diabetes among Puerto Ricans and Hispanic people living in the Southwest and the lowest rate among Cubans.
The prevalence of diabetes among American Indians is 2.8 times the overall rate.
Major groups within the Asian and Pacific Islander communities (Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, and Korean Americans) all had higher prevalences than those of whites."

"The burden of diabetes is much greater for minority populations than the white population. For example, 10.8 percent of non-Hispanic blacks, 10.6 percent of Mexican Americans, and 9.0 percent of American Indians have diabetes, compared with 6.2 percent of whites. Certain minorities also have much higher rates of diabetes-related complications and death, in some instances by as much as 50 percent more than the total population."

[Shasown]

Originally Posted by lostalex

http://www.ahrq.gov/research/diabdisp.htm

High Diabetes Rates for Minorities
"Identifying disparities is a first step toward understanding what causes them and what can be done to reduce them.

Different studies found that African Americans are from 1.4 to 2.2 times more likely to have diabetes than white persons.
Hispanic Americans have a higher prevalence of diabetes than non-Hispanic people, with the highest rates for type 2 diabetes among Puerto Ricans and Hispanic people living in the Southwest and the lowest rate among Cubans.
The prevalence of diabetes among American Indians is 2.8 times the overall rate.
Major groups within the Asian and Pacific Islander communities (Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, and Korean Americans) all had higher prevalences than those of whites."

"The burden of diabetes is much greater for minority populations than the white population. For example, 10.8 percent of non-Hispanic blacks, 10.6 percent of Mexican Americans, and 9.0 percent of American Indians have diabetes, compared with 6.2 percent of whites. Certain minorities also have much higher rates of diabetes-related complications and death, in some instances by as much as 50 percent more than the total population."

Good call.

Whilst there is a genetic link in the onset of type 2 diabetes, the onset of it can be delayed and prevented by early detection, assessment of inherited risks, dietary and lifestyle awareness and changes. Better basic healthcare.

I presume most of the minorities in the states will be unable to afford decent health insurance, annual health screenings, specialist health education.

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by lostalex

It would be interesting if they compared just white people that make between 80-125k a year from both countries.

Obviously the US has more black and brown people. And it's been shown over and over again that black and latino people are far more unhealthy than white people. They have higher rates of obesity, and diabetes and addiction and various other health problems.

So i guess really this result is not suprising, but it really doesn't say anything about the comparison between countries. Just that we have more black and brown people.

Socio-economics and race have a lot to do with health.

Look at the life expectancy of aboriginals in Australia, compared to the life expectancy of white Australians. The difference is incredible. Same is true of first nations people in Canada.

I don't know why people of color have poorer health, but it's certainly true.

You're an idiot, black people are not inherently unhealthier than white people, the reason they may not be in as good health is because of the income and welfare disparity between whites & other races

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by MTVN

You're an idiot, black people are not inherently unhealthier than white people, the reason they may not be in as good health is because of the income and welfare disparity between whites & other races

I'm not an idiot.

You'll clearly see in my original post i pointed out that it is socio-economic as well as race.

But it is not purely socio-economic, as poor white people are still healthier than poor black people, and rich white people are still healthier than rich black people.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by lostalex

I'm not an idiot.

You'll clearly see in my original post i pointed out that it is socio-economic as well as race.

But it is not purely socio-economic, as poor white people are still healthier than poor black people, and rich white people are still healthier than rich black people.

There have been several studies carried out that actually carry forward what you say but when Black-white differences in health have narrowed and widened it is due to when the black-white differences in socio-economic circumstances have narrowed and widened. Thus the colour of skin does not make the difference in health, situational and economical differences do.

[letmein]

Originally Posted by Smithy

I didn't need to read this to know it... :S

Isn't it just common knowledge that 70% of Americans are obese or something

Uh, no, and the UK is officially the fattest nation in Europe. Give me a break.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by letmein

Uh, no, and the UK is officially the fattest nation in Europe. Give me a break.

Actually we are 4th, behind Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.

[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by letmein

Uh, no, and the UK is officially the fattest nation in Europe. Give me a break.

Report from Reuters in 2009 working on stats a few years before...these figures will have increased.

Numbers posted by the National Center for Health Statistics show that more than 34 percent of Americans are obese, compared to 32.7 percent who are overweight. It said just under 6 percent are "extremely" obese.

"More than one-third of adults, or over 72 million people, were obese in 2005-2006, the NCHS said in its report.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/...50863H20090109

72 million obese people is a hell of a lot.


Report showing the top 10.

http://www.expatify.com/news/the-wor...countries.html



(1) American Samoa, 93.5% (of the population that is overweight)

It’s a staggering number. Many Pacific Island nations have had trouble with weight in modern times mostly because they have abandoned their traditional foods for cheap, easily attained processed foods from the West. Perhaps no other Pacific Island has had such access to these habits as American Samoa.
(2) Kiribati, 81.5%

Like American Samoa, Kiribati has been flooded with processed foods like Spam and mutton flaps (fatty sheep scraps), often sold at lower prices than native food.
(3) U.S.A., 66.7%

Well, the U.S.A. doesn’t top the list, but it’s close, and it falls behind only a small islands nation and one of its own unincorporated territories. The United States of Processed food, high fructose corn syrup and fast food has been high on this list over the last half century.
(4) Germany, 66.5%

The fattest country in Europe no doubt owes their portly woes to lots of beer, fatty foods and inactivity.
(5) Egypt, 66%

Obesity among Egyptian women is particularly high, often attributed to cultural taboos on women exercising or playing sports.
(6) Bosnia-Herzegovina, 62.9%

Once considered a problem only in high-income countries, obesity is dramatically on the rise in low- and middle-income countries like Bosnia-Herzegovina, where smoking, drinking and eating unhealthy foods spiked during the war that ravaged the country from 1992 to 1995.
(7) New Zealand, 62.7%

Obesity is a growing concern for New Zealand. While its native Maori have struggled with weight due to loss of traditional culture like other Pacific Islanders– they are mostly just a scapegoat. New Zealand’s entire population is getting fatter at a rapidly increased rate.
(8) Israel, 61.9%

In the past 30 years, the number of obese Israelis has tripled, evidence the country is truly part of the Western world.
(9) Croatia, 61.4%

Croatia, where cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death, is also a victim of the globalization of the food market, which tends to suppress traditional diets as cheaper processed foods from the U.S. and Europe flood store shelves.
(10) United Kingdom, 61%

A recent survey ranked Brits among the bottom third of European nations in physical exercise, leading Health Secretary Andy Burnham to comment, “We’re really in danger of being known as the best in the world for watching sport, but one of the worst for getting out there and doing it for ourselves.”

[Livia]

Originally Posted by letmein

Uh, no, and the UK is officially the fattest nation in Europe. Give me a break.

The thread was comparing the UK and USA. And the USA isn't in Europe, is it.

Interesting thread. Well... right up until the post above.

[karezza]

90% of Americans are obese. They eat 10 times as much as Englands. The average Americano is 5' 6" & weighs 15 stone. They are eating themselves out of existence.

[Benjamin]

Originally Posted by karezza

90% of Americans are obese. They eat 10 times as much as Englands. The average Americano is 5' 6" & weighs 15 stone. They are eating themselves out of existence.

Really?

Most of the studies I have researched show that the average American male is 13.5 stone and female is 10.3 stone.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by ukturtle

Really?

Most of the studies I have researched show that the average American male is 13.5 stone and female is 10.3 stone.

lmao 90% of Americans are obese?, I would love to see the statistics that show that!

[Pyramid*]

Originally Posted by karezza

90% of Americans are obese. They eat 10 times as much as Englands. The average Americano is 5' 6" & weighs 15 stone. They are eating themselves out of existence.

90% you say eh?

Go on, prove it.