Young Americans believe they have the best health in the world...

Louie

Of course, it turns out they're actually last among developed nations in real health outcomes.

The U.S. ranks #1 among 17 affluent, western countries in the percentage of people aged 5 to 34 who rate their health as good. Unfortunately, when doctors look at people’s actual health, at indicators such as obesity, diabetes, and simply the chance that someone will die before his or her next birthday, the U.S. ranks last: young Americans are #17 out of 17 in real health.

Of course, it turns out they're actually last among developed nations in real health outcomes.

The U.S. ranks #1 among 17 affluent, western countries in the percentage of people aged 5 to 34 who rate their health as good. Unfortunately, when doctors look at people’s actual health, at indicators such as obesity, diabetes, and simply the chance that someone will die before his or her next birthday, the U.S. ranks last: young Americans are #17 out of 17 in real health.

The fraction of Americans who believe they have good health is higher than the fraction of foriegners who believe they have good health. It doesn't follow that Americans believe they have the best health in the world. They might not know how other countries do, or be using a different scale to foriegners, or believe foriegners are unduly pesimistic, etc.

My European coworkers take sick days when they get headaches, and go to the doctor because they get headaches "frequently" (about once a month). They consider the slightest inconvenience or pain to be a massive health problem. Not that this is necessarily true of all Europeans (though thus far it's been true of every European I've yet met to some degreee...), but Americans in general, and particularly men, have a more rugged and independent attitude towards healthcare, and have a considerably wider spectrum encompassing "good health." A broken rib is an inconvenience, not a health problem.

1615C68A614y

How could you measure health in absolute terms anyway? Where exactly do you set the cutoff between healthy and non-healthy? Does it vary relative to current medical technology? Does your income or socio-cultural group matter, or do you average this over everyone? Why average over the US? Why not over the world, or in developed countries, or in particular states?