Female life expectancy
The past decade has witnessed rising life expectancy averages for citizens of OECD countries. The total average from 1995 of 76 was bumped to 78.6 in 2005, giving an extra 2.6 years to the average citizen. The underlying variables which have contributed to this extension of life, whether they are advances in medical technology, better lifestyle choices, or merely happiness, are indicative that something good is happening in first world health. Although Koreans have gained an extra five years in life expectancy during the ten years, other countries reported respectable increases, including Australia with 3, Iceland with 3.2, Ireland with 3.8, Poland with 3.1, and Turkey with 3.5. Greece, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic, and Sweden reported improvements, but they hardly shook the scale with scores of less than 2 years each. But while the OECD’s life expectancy is getting better, men have little to celebrate. From 1995 to 2005, the average life expectancy for men dropped by three years. When compared with the increase women enjoyed to their life expectancy of an extra two plus years, one must wonder if gains by one sex come at the detriment of the other. Among the countries men should avoid are Korea and Ireland, which have seen the male life expectancy drop by 5.5 years and 4.2 years, relatively. It just so happens that both countries are among those best suited for a woman who wants a longer life, as they give their female inhabitants 4.5 years more in Korea and 3.4 years in Ireland. Turkey also placed respectably, extending the average female life expectancy by 3.6 years. This might come as good news to the wannabe widow, but for those women who want to have their husband outlive them, only one piece of advice can help: set your sights on younger men!
Male life expectancy
Tobacco consumption 1990 — 2005
Have first world campaigns to extinguish smoking from public buildings and private enterprises succeeded in decreasing smoking figures? According to OECD data, the percentage of adults who smoke daily has been cut for many countries, as noticed from the small light colored bars from 2005 against the deep purple bars from 1995 data. Sweden and Iceland have cut their rates from 25.8% and 30.3% in 1990 to 15.9% and 19.5% in 2005, respectively. Denmark also brought its figure down from 44.5% in 190 to 26% in 2005. The British and French have also made strides, regardless of how much discontent their populations showed to government restrictions over who can smoke and at which locales. Not all OECD states were able to report such successes. The Greeks actually took to smoking more over the fifteen year span, with a 0.1% increase from their 1990 level of 38.5%.
Rich world obesity: 1990 — 2005
Are the bellies of rich people getting bigger? Have the seeds of capitalism grown to fruition to satiate the appetite of the OECD citizens? According to OECD figures, obesity is definitely on the rise. From 1995 to 2005, most OECD countries reported that a greater percentage of their adult population had unacceptably high body mass index scores, with Britain and Canada among those with dealing with markedly more obesity. An interesting case that presented itself was the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic where, once united politically, they have seen obesity rates diverge over time. In 1995, 11.3% of Czechs were obese, rising to 17% in 2005, while in the Slovak Republic, a 18.9% obesity rate in 1995, higher than the Czech Republic’s at that time, has thinned in the 10 years since to a 2005 obesity rate of 15.4%. What might be the reasons for Czechs getting fatter and Slovak’s getting skinnier?
