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The US is at or very near the worst among OECD countries in: infant mortality, child poverty, child health and safety, life expectancy at birth, healthy life ex
by RyanMcGreal 14y ago
The US is at or very near the worst among OECD countries in: infant mortality, child poverty, child health and safety, life expectancy at birth, healthy life expectancy, rate of obesity, disability-adjusted life years, doctors per 1000 people, deaths from treatable conditions, rate of mental health disorders, rate of drug abuse, rate of prescription drug use, incarceration rate, rate of assaults, rate of homicides, income inequality, wealth inequality, and economic mobility.
- w1ntermute 14y agoDo you know if these things are demographically linked, like education is[0]? I haven't done any research, but my gut tells me they are. 0: http://super-economy.blogspot.com/2010/12/amazing-truth-about-pisa-scores-usa.html http://super-economy.blogspot.com/2010/12/amazing-truth-abou...
- tokenadult 14y agoYou should learn not to rely on that link for your understanding of the world. It is crap.
- w1ntermute 14y agoWhy do you think my worldview would be based on a single blog post? And can you elaborate on why you think the post is wrong?
- tokenadult 14y ago(First reply, for courtesy.) I'll give your fair question the long answer it deserves probably tomorrow (United States time zones) after traveling to a meeting in another town this evening). I'll probably reply in this same thread, under your question, so it's easy for you to find the reply.
- tokenadult 14y agoI'll be writing off-forum today (in between work tasks) to provide an answer to your kind question, And can you elaborate on why you think the post is wrong? Meanwhile, in response to your Why do you think my worldview would be based on a single blog post? I am wondering why you have submitted that link so often in previous Hacker News discussions of international comparisons among countries. (This most recent time is far from the first time you have submitted the link.) That link is the only external source you have submitted here. What do you think makes that a better post to consider for the issues under discussion in this immediate thread than some of the links shared on health issues in other subthreads here? What does that link actually have to do with health at all?
- refurb 14y agoDig a bit deeper and you'll see that those statistics don't tell you the whole story. In the US, premature births occur at a much higher rate than other country and account for a large portion of the higher infant mortality rate. Those stats also don't tell you that if you have a premature baby, it's most likely to survive if treated in the US.
- danielweber 14y agoAlso, the exact same event can take place in two different countries, but be classified called "live birth, dead baby" in the US and "stillbirth" in another country. [1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_mortality#Measuring_IMR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_mortality#Measuring_IMR
- RyanMcGreal 14y agoI've heard that and am not sure whether the comparative statistics control for this. However, even if it's true, that still leaves child poverty, child health and safety, life expectancy at birth, healthy life expectancy, rate of obesity, disability-adjusted life years, doctors per 1000 people, deaths from treatable conditions, rate of mental health disorders, rate of drug abuse, rate of prescription drug use, incarceration rate, rate of assaults, rate of homicides, income inequality, wealth inequality, and economic mobility.
- refurb 14y agoWell a number of those you mentioned are connected to childhood mortality: life expectancy at birth, healthy life expectancy among others. As for the other measures, how you count is important. Without seeing the actual data, it's hard to say exactly how relevant it is.
- slurry 14y ago> In the US, premature births occur at a much higher rate than other country Pretty much what you'd expect for a system that doesn't emphasize accessible prenatal care.
- grecy 14y agoIf you dig into the statistics [1] you'll see that for the average Joe on the street, daily quality of life in America is below that of all other Developed nations, and is comparable to the upper-end of Developing nations. [1] http://www.oecd.org/statistics/ http://www.oecd.org/statistics/
- tptacek 14y agoFor instance, because...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- RyanMcGreal 14y agoThere's been a fair bit of research that even when you control for income, affluent people living in societies with high levels of inequality fare more poorly than affluent people in societies with lower levels of inequality.
- 127001brewer 14y agoThat's very interesting - can you provide a reference?
- RyanMcGreal 14y agoCheck out The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger by Richard Wilkinson et al.
- saosebastiao 14y agoHow about a reference to the research?
- yummyfajitas 14y agoThe spirit level claims that a variety of factors, one of which is inequality, are all correlated. It provides very little empirical evidence that inequality is the cause (apart from being on the x-axis).
- omegaworks 14y agoBatman.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- tedunangst 14y agoWhat's your point? For instance, what improvement to us healthcare would cure obesity?