Science/Tech

Longer Life Expectancy May Go Beyond 90 By 2030

By Anne Collins | Update Date: Feb 23, 2017 07:20 AM EST

A new study has found that average life expectancy will rise in many countries by 2030. South Koreans are more likely to exceed 90 years and have the highest life expectancy in the world. The United States is one of the lowest among developed countries.

In collaboration with the World Health Organization, researchers analysed long-term data on morality and longevity trends in order to predict how life expectancy will change in 35 industrialized countries by 2030.

Fox News reported that the study was published in The Lancet journal on Wednesday. It covered 35 developed and emerging countries, which included the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Australia, Poland, Mexico and the Czech Republic.

Majid Ezzati, lead author from Imperial College London said, "The fact that we will continue to live longer means we need to think about strengthening the health and social care systems to support an ageing population with multiple health needs."

They found that among high-income and well developed countries, the United States is likely to have the lowest life expectancy in 2030. Men and women from the US are expected to live 79.5 and 83.3 years respectively. This is found to be similar with middle-income countries like Croatia and Mexico.

The study said this is due to a lack of universal healthcare in the US and factors such as relatively high child and maternal mortality rates, and high rates of homicides and obesity.

According to Free Press Journal, in Europe, French women and Swiss men were predicted to have the highest life expectancies. French women with an average of 88.6 years and nearly 84 years for Swiss men.

The researchers predicted a South Korean girl born in 2030 should expect to live 90.8 years, while a boy could reach 84.1 years. People used to believe that 90 years is the highest life expectancy, but the new study suggests we will break the 90-year-barrier said Ezzati.

Researchers said good childhood nutrition, low blood pressure, low levels of smoking and good access to healthcare, new medical knowledge and technologies were the factors that made South Korea much greater average life expectancy.

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