Is the US the unhealthiest country in the world?


Is the US the unhealthiest country in the world?

The U.S. is known as one of the unhealthiest countries in the world, but where exactly does it rank?

Clinic Compare, a British clinic comparison website, recently conducted a study to find out. Using data from the World Health Organization, the CIA World Factbook and the World Lung Association, the company examined 179 countries. 

Researchers gathered information on alcohol and tobacco consumption and prevalence of obesity, giving each country an overall score to determine the order.

The Czech Republic and Russia were No. 1 and No. 2, but the U.S. wasn’t too far behind at No. 10. 

America was the only non-European country to make the top 10, and it had the ninth highest rate of obesity in the world with 35 percent of the adult population classified as dangerously overweight.

However, its lower tobacco and alcohol consumption prevented the nation from earning a higher spot on the list.

More than 2.2 billion people around the world — about a third of the planet’s population — are estimated to be overweight. And 10 percent of the global population is considered obese, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine in June.

So which countries are the healthiest?

Afghanistan was named the healthiest. It had the second lowest rate of obesity in the world with only 2.7% of the population having a BMI over 30. Residents there also smoked and drank alcohol less than other those in other areas.

Locals in African nations were also in good shape. Niger and Ethiopia were among the 10 healthiest populations on the globe.

Want to learn more about the Clinic Compare report? Read the details here

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