Americans not as healthy as the English

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A comparison shows that U.S residents have poorer health than their English counterparts with higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.
A strong link between socioeconomic status and health has been shown in both U.S. and British society. A comparison between the two populations confirms this relationship and also shows some striking health differences. In short, Americans are far less healthy than their British counterparts. In middle age, 12.5 per cent of the U.S population has diabetes compared to 6.1 per cent of the British. Similar differences are noted, by the study from researchers at University College London, in hypertension, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Smoking rates are similar between both populations but the Americans are more likely to be obese while the British drink more. The socioeconomic differences are striking - those in the top socioeconomic groups in America have health similar to that of the lowest socioeconomic groups in England. This is despite the fact that the US spends more than twice as much per head on health as does England. Maybe these fascinating differences between the health of the American and English populations can be attributed to different healthcare systems or cultural and lifestyle differences.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 3rd May 2006 Volume 295 pages 2037-2045

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