CHICAGO - White, middle-aged Americans — even those who are rich — are far
less healthy than their peers in England, according to stunning new research
that erases misconceptions and has experts scratching their heads.
Americans had higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, strokes, lung disease
and cancer — findings that held true no matter what income or education level.
Those dismal results are despite the fact that U.S. health care spending is
double what England spends on each of its citizens.
"Everybody should be discussing it: Why isn't the richest country in the
world the healthiest country in the world?" asks study co-author Dr. Michael
Marmot, an epidemiologist at University College London in England.
The study, based on government statistics in both countries, adds context to
the already-known fact that the United States spends more on health care than
any other industrialized nation, yet trails in rankings of life expectancy.
The United States spends about $5,200 per person on health care while England
spends about half that in adjusted dollars.
Even experts familiar with the weaknesses in the U.S. health system seemed
stunned by the study's conclusions.
"I knew we were less healthy, but I didn't know the magnitude of the
disparities," said Gerard Anderson, an expert in chronic disease and
international health at Johns Hopkins University who had no role in the
research.
Just why the United States fared so miserably wasn't clear. Answers ranging
from too little exercise to too little money and too much stress were offered.
Even the U.S. obesity epidemic couldn't solve the mystery. The researchers
crunched numbers to create a hypothetical statistical world in which the English
had American lifestyle risk factors, including being as fat as Americans. In
that model, Americans were still sicker.
Smoking rates are about the same on both sides of the pond. The English have
a higher rate of heavy drinking.