A new study reveals the healthiest and unhealthiest countries to live in and South Africa has been ranked as the unhealthiest.
The research by Compare The Market ranks the healthiest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries around the world, and also reveals which ones need a little improvement…
The research looks at various factors including life expectancy, prevalence of smoking, alcohol consumption, adult obesity and vaccination rates. An overall weighted score was then created and each country was ranked.
South Africa statistics:
Life expectancy at birth – 63.9 years old
Prevalence of current tobacco smoking – 31.4%
Alcohol consumption – 7.3 litres
Prevalence of obesity among adults – 28.3%
Vaccination rates – 81%
Prevalence of insufficient physical activity among adults – 38.2%
Probability of premature death – 26.2%
Population using at least basic drinking water services – 80.68%
Overall score – 28.33
Top 10 least healthy countries are South Africa, Brazil, Indonesia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Russia, the US, India and the Czech Republic.
Key findings:
The least healthy country is South Africa, which has a life expectancy of only 63.9 years, a 28.3% prevalence of obesity in adults and 38.2% insufficient physical activity among adults.
Indonesia did not fare as well with other factors and has ranked 3rd least healthy, with 37.9% of adults smoking tobacco which is one of the highest in the world.
Top 5 healthiest countries are Japan, South Korea, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Key findings:
Japan is the world’s healthiest country, and has the highest life expectancy at 84.2 years, low rates of obesity (4.3%) and alcohol consumption (7.2%), and high vaccination rates (94.5%).
China has the largest physically active adult population, with only 14.1% of adults deemed to have insufficient physical activity.
Residents of South Korea are the least at risk of premature death, with just a 7.8% chance of dying between the ages of 30 and 70 from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, or chronic respiratory disease.
All Nordic countries in the top 10 have 100% of the population using at least basic drinking water.
[link url="https://www.comparethemarket.com.au/health-insurance/healthiest-countries/"]The World’s Healthiest Countries report[/link]