BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Smoking and obesity are blamed for the slower rising life expectancy in the U.S., according to a new report from the National Research Council.
Given the fact that the U.S. spends far more on healthcare than any other nation, the U.S. life expectancy is described in the report as a "poor performance" compared with many other countries.
In the U.S., life expectancy at birth was 80.8 years for women and 75.6 years for men in 2007. In France, life expectancy for women was 84.4 years and 77.4 for men. And in Japan, it was nearly 86 years for women and 79.2 for men.
"We determined the most likely source of our shortfall is cigarette smoking, particularly the heavy amount of smoking done by American women," said report co-author Samuel H. Preston, a professor of demography at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
"Obesity also appears to be important, but we are less certain of its role," he added, "We are the heaviest country in the Western world."
Obesity may account for one-fifth to one-third of the shortfall in U.S. life expectancy as compared with other countries, the report states.
The National Research Council, one of the National Academies of Sciences, is an independent organization that advises the federal government and other institutions on scientific matters.
(Agencies)
