According to this year’s edition of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, Spain just surpassed Italy as the world’s healthiest nation. The report ranks 169 countries based on factors that contribute to overall health.
Among the top 10 countries, six of them were in Europe, with Italy ranking second. In contrast, the United States didn’t even break into the top 30, ranking at number 35, one notch worse than last year.
The index classifies nations according to variables such as tobacco use, obesity and life expectancy. Environmental factors like access to clean water and sanitation are also taken into account.
The top 10 healthiest nations, according to the report, were: Spain, Italy, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Singapore, Norway and Israel.
Looking at future life expectancies in 195 countries and territories around the world, the results mirror other research published in the international medical journal The Lancet, Spain also ranked first, with a projected life expectancy of 85.8 years by 2040. The United States ranked 64th.
Life expectancy in the U.S. has also been driven down in recent years. One of the main reasons the U.S. ranks so poorly is because of the obesity epidemic. The latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate nearly 40 per cent of American adults equivalent to 93.3 million people are overweight.