Results: A study (BioMed Central's Population Health Metrics) said Canadians can expect to live to age 79.7, versus 77.2 for Americans. A healthy 19-year-old Canadian can expect 52 more years of good health versus 49.3 years for an American. Good news?

The US probably has more fast food choices than any other country on the planet and many of those franchises have found their way to Canada and other countries. Some of the food served at these franchises is not the healthiest but it is plentiful and relatively inexpensive compared to the cost of food in other countries. North Americans spends less of the household budget on food compared other countries so we can afford to eat more. Is easy and inexpensive access to unhealthy food shortening our life expectancy?

U.S. life expectancy ranks 43rd and Canada's is 19th. Dr. Steven Woolf, at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine said. "We saw life expectancy flatlining in the U.S. in the decade preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. That was a warning that something needed to be done to address the root causes" Woolf says policy decisions in the U.S. help explain why the U.S. has a shorter life expectancy than its wealthy peers, Other wealthy democracies "protected the health of their populations in ways that we had not done in the United States." Is lack of access to affordable quality healthcare shortening life expectancy?

Canada and the US have cities that are less compact that the ones in counties that have higher life expectancy. Citizens in those countries have more opportunity to walk or cycle to where they want to go. They also have public transit as a more viable option than we have and many can do without a car completely. Is urban sprawl shortening our life expectancy?

As well as food franchises, the US is successful at exporting Law and Order type TV shows. These shows depict crime and the violence associated with it as an ever present danger. A typical police officer in a compact European or Japanese city can spend more time solving crimes and less time behind a desk or in a car than the north American counterpart. (the cops in the photo are not "typical" but worthy of discussion). Does the less mobile and less fit police force result in fewer crimes being solved and lower life expectancy for both the police and citizens?

I like to watch clips on YouTube of car crashes, some of which are caused by road rage. Very few of those clips come from the countries that rank highest in life expectancy. Those countries also seem to rank highest in happiness. Is there a link between happiness, the reduction or elimination of rage, and higher life expectancy? Can you live a happier life and live longer as a result?