Canada is recognized as the healthiest country in the world
Canada is ahead of 150 countries on many indicators, far ahead of the United States, Australia, Great Britain, and Japan.
A new analysis of the Global Wellness Index ranks Canada as the best country among more than 150 countries. The U.S. lags behind, ranking only 37th.
The Global Health Index includes ten key indicators: depression level, happiness level, blood glucose level, obesity, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, blood pressure, life expectancy and public health expenditures. The data were obtained from the World Health Organization and the United Nations, as well as the World Happiness Report and public health open data.
Canada highly ranked for blood pressure, life expectancy and government spending on health care, as well as the country's high level of happiness, tops the list. Iceland and the Netherlands are also at the top. Along with them are the Philippines, South Korea, Oman, and Singapore in the top ten.
The United Kingdom, ranked fifth in the world by GDP, ranks 16th on the list of healthy countries because of obesity and reduced physical activity, while the Maldives ranks fourth on the list, even though the tropical country ranks 169th in GDP. The U.S. has a surprisingly low score-it is outside the top 25 because of its low scores on obesity, depression, physical inactivity, and blood pressure. Large countries such as Japan, Germany, France or Italy also failed to make the top 25, as all four countries lagged behind in high blood pressure. Countries in the Middle East ranked relatively high because of good results in the alcohol category.
A striking finding is that while rich countries tend to top the health rankings, many emerging economies are doing better, such as rising life expectancy. At the same time, many developed countries have poor rates of depression and obesity, such as the United States. Thus, economic health does not always correlate with actual health.
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