COMPARED with many other peoples, Americans do not live very long. Though the U.S. leads the world in most measures of material success—personal income, production, profits—in life expectancy it ranks only 24th for men and ninth for women. American men live an average 67.1 years,* and American women 74.6 years. Men survive longer in most Western European nations, as well as in Japan, Israel, Greece, East Germany, Australia and some other countries. Indeed, in Norway, Denmark and The Netherlands, men live longer than 70 years on the average; in Sweden, the world's leader, male longevity is 71.9 years—almost five years more than in the U.S. While U.S. women do appreciably better, they still rank behind women in Sweden, The Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, France, Canada and Britain.
People almost everywhere are living longer than ever before. Because of pestilence, war and famine, plus a dreadful rate of infant and maternal deaths, the ancient Romans survived to an average age of only 22. By the Middle Ages, longevity in Western Europe had risen to 33 years; a century ago it was up to 41. In the U.S., life expectancy has jumped dramatically since 1900, when it was only 47 years. But practically all the gains were made between 1900 and 1950, as medical advances defeated the great killers of the young. The average length of life rose about four years in each of the first five decades of this century (see chart). In the two decades since 1950, however, it has gone up only 1.5 years for men and 3.5 years for women.
One reason that the world's richest nation ranks so low is that, unlike Denmark or Japan, it is a huge and heterogeneous country. Many of its people, particularly nonwhites and rural folk, do not receive the benefits of sound nutrition and medical care. For much of the rest of the population, the good life does not contribute much to long life simply because Americans tend to overdo things. They consume too much in the way of calories and cholesterol, nicotine and alcohol. Overeating causes high blood pressure and strokes. Oversmoking contributes to arteriosclerosis and lung disease. Overdrinking leads to cirrhosis and brain deterioration. In addition, Americans often work too hard. The harddriving, competitive, demanding life of the meritocracy brings many insults to the body, and particularly the heart. The death rate for men from cardiovascular disease is 50% higher in the U.S. than in Western Europe and 25% higher than in Canada.
Numerous studies of nationalities show the high price of American overworking, overworrying and overconsuming. For example, Jews in the U.S. have a higher rate of heart disease than Jews in Israel; the same is true of Japanese in the U.S. compared with Japanese in their homeland. The rate of heart disease runs highest in the nation in Rhode Island, New York and Pennsylvania—all heavily urbanized states that have much stress, crowding and pollution. The rate is lowest in Hawaii, Alaska and New Mexico, where the living tends to be slower and easier.