Data Points
The U.S. spends nearly twice as much on health care as other wealthy nations and yet ranks poorly on many population health statistics. There are many reasons for this disconnect, but part of the problem is that it’s become hard to be healthy in the U.S. The last several decades have brought significant changes in behaviors from sleep to eating patterns to social interaction and with them have come dramatic increases in chronic health conditions. We’ve collected a few of the data points in this story and shared them below. Don’t be shy about tweeting the facts that leave an impression on you -- we want them to be well known.
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Health in the U.S.
The U.S. ranks 37th among nations in life expectancy at birth. Source: UN Development Programme, 2019 Human Development Index Ranking.
Per capita health care spending in the U.S. is almost twice the average of other wealthy, developed countries. Source: Peter G. Peterson Foundation, based on 2019 OECD data.
U.S. health expenditure as a percent of GDP is nearly 18%, having risen from 5% in 1960. Source: Statista
Life expectancy in the U.S. for a 40 year-old in the top income quartile is 10 years more than for a 40 year-old in the bottom quartile. Source: Chetty et al in JAMA, reported in Vox, using 2014 data.
Life expectancy in Hawaii is 7.1 years longer than in Mississippi. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, based on 2010-15 data.
Chronic Conditions
42.4% of American adults are now living with obesity. 49% are projected to do so by 2030. Source: CDC, based on 2017-18 data, and Ward et al in the New Journal of Medicine.
9.2% of American adults are now living with severe obesity. 24% are projected to do so by 2030. Source: CDC, based on 2017-18 data, and Ward et al in the New England Journal of Medicine (2019).
The average man in the U.S. weighs 198 pounds (compared with 166 in 1960). Source: CDC, based on 2015-16 data.
The average woman in the U.S. weighs 171 pounds (compared with 140 in 1960). Source: CDC, based on 2015-16 data.
19.3% of children and youth (ages 2-19) in the U.S. are living with obesity (compared with 5.5% in 1980). Source: Trust for America’s Health, based on 2017-18 data.
The number of Americans reporting frequent activity limitation increased by 40% from 1995 to 2012. Source: Dwyer-Lindgren et al in Population Health Metrics.
10.5% of Americans have diabetes today. Only 1% had it in 1958. Another 34.5% have prediabetes. Source: CDC National Diabetes Statistics Report, based on 2018 data; CDC Long Term Trends in Diabetes.
14% of Americans are projected to have diabetes by 2030. Source: Lin et al in Population Health Metrics (2018)
The U.S has the 5th highest prevalence of anxiety and the 6th highest prevalence of depression in the world. Source: Our World in Data, using 2016 data from IMHE Global Burden of Disease.
In the past 10 to 12 years, the number of people reporting symptoms indicative of major depression increased 52 percent among 12- to 17-year-olds and 63 percent among 18- to 25-year-olds. Source: Twenge et al in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, reported in the Washington Post, based on 2017 data.
“Deaths of despair” (deaths caused by suicide or alcohol- or drug-related issues) rose approximately 230% from 1960 to 2017. Source: Social Capital Project of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress.
The number of Americans experiencing “extreme mental distress” grew from 3.6% in 1993 to 6.4% in 2019. Source: Blanchflower and Oswald in the American Journal of Public Health.
Eating
The average American consumes more than 3,600 calories daily - a 24% increase from 1961. Source: Business Insider, using 2013 data from the The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Nearly 37% of American adults eat fast food on any given day. Source: CDC, based on 2013-2016 data.
In 2014, fewer than 60 percent of suppers served at home were actually cooked at home, down from 75 percent in 1984. Source: NPD Group, reported in the Washington Post.
Americans spend more money on food away from home than on food that is eaten at home. Source: USDA, based on 2017 data.
Moving
Less than 5% of adults in the U.S. get 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Source: President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition, based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Report.
The average American’s one-way commute time hit a record 27.1 minutes in 2018 (up more than 25% since 1980). Source: Washington Post, reporting on 2018 Census data.
Less than 3% of Americans walk to work; half a percent bike to work; and 5% get to work by public transit. Source: Citylab, reporting on data from the 2017 American Community Survey.
Nearly 86% of Americans drive to work, compared with 64% in 1960. Source: American Community Survey, based on 2013 data.
Commuting by bicycle has been associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all cause mortality. Source: Celis-Morales et al in the British Medical Journal.
Sleeping
33% of Americans sleep an average of less than 6 hours a night (compared with 2% in 1960). Source: Sheehan et al, in Sleep, based on 2017 data from the National Health Interview Survey, reported on in Smithsonian Magazine.
Short sleep (< 7 hours) is associated with a 25% increased likelihood of obesity. Source: CDC.
Short sleep is associated with a 30% increased likelihood of physical inactivity. Source: CDC.
Short sleep is associated with a 38% increased likelihood of coronary heart disease and a 50% increased likelihood of stroke. Source: CDC.
Short sleep is associated with a 40% increased likelihood of asthma and a 80% increased likelihood of COPD. Source: CDC.
Connecting
Americans spend 35 minutes a day socializing and communicating, a 15% drop over 15 years. Source: American Time Use Survey, based on 2018 data.
61% of working Americans report feeling lonely. Source: Cigna Loneliness in the Workplace report, based on 2019 data.
Loneliness is associated with a 26% increase in mortality for participants in a meta-analytic study. Source: Holt-Lunstad et al in Perspectives on Psychological Science (2015)
A meta analysis of 150 studies found a 50% increased likelihood of survival for participants with stronger social relationships. Source: Holt-Lunstad et al in PLOS Medicine (2010)
Individuals with less social connection have disrupted sleep patterns, altered immune systems, more inflammation and higher levels of stress hormones. Source: New York Times (2016)
Recreating
Americans watch an average of nearly 6 hours a day of TV. Source: Nielsen, reported in TechCrunch, based on 2018 data.
Through streaming services, US consumers can now choose from nearly 650,000 movies or TV shows. Source: Nielsen Total Audience Report Q3 2019, reported in Venturebeat.
The average U.S. consumer now spends an entire extra day each week watching or listening to some form of digital media content, compared to six years ago. Source: Nielsen Total Audience Report Q3 2019, reported in Venturebeat.
Getting Outdoors
Americans spend nearly as much time in their cars (5.5% of the day) as they do outdoors (7.6%). 1994 data. Source: The National Human Activity Pattern Survey, reported in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.
People who spend 2 hours or more a week in green spaces are significantly more likely to report good health and well-being than those who spend less. Source: White et al in Nature, 2016
Only 10% of children report having more fun playing indoors than playing outdoors. Source: The Nature of Americans, based on 2016 data.
More time spent outdoors is associated with lower rates of myopia (nearsightedness) in children. Source: Rose et al in Ophthalmology.
From the early 1970s to the early 2000s, the prevalence of myopia increased 66% in the U.S. Source: Vitale et al in JAMA Ophthalmology.
More than 100 million Americans live more than a 10-minute walk from a park. Source: Trust for Public Land, 2018.