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Iceland’s Life Expectancy - Report
By: Ariel Upson
Iceland’s life expectancy rate is very high, averaging at 79.4 years of age for men and 83 years for women. They have the highest life expectancy rate in the world, always neck to neck with Japan. They also have the lowest infant mortality rate. The standard deviant is ______, and there are ______ deviants from the mean. I believe for one, since they do not have as many ‘outliers’ in their life expectancy, the average is higher than all others. I believe this is an amazing thing and would like to visit Iceland merely for the fact to observe them in hopes to see how they live such long lives. Eighty-two percent of its citizens reckon themselves satisfied with their personal lives, which is the highest figure anywhere, some ten percent more than the United States. This would mean less of those on pills or drugs such as ones for depression, which might sicken some here or other places. Their suicide rate is extremely low, counting only 3 out of every 100,000 females, and 15 out of every 100,000 males. Even with their long winter nights and occasional nasty weather, Icelanders have some of the world’s lowest rates of depression, stress disorders, bipolar disorders, postpartum depression, and even Seasonal Affective Disorder (caused by lack of sunlight.) Why is this? Unlike in America, the Icelandic diet is rich in Omega-3 found in fish. Plus they eat more unprocessed vegetables that contain higher levels of chromium. Omega 3 is found in things such as Canola oil, walnuts, flax seeds, hemp seeds, salmon, mackerel, trout, tuna, sardines, and herring.
Mental well-being can have a great effect on one’s outer being, and overall their health. Another thing is their climate. Despite it’s name, it is not a land that is only ever cold. “If you don’t like the weather right now, just wait five minutes,” some people even say. This is a reflection on their (occasional) variable weather; one day you might go through all four seasons. This is due to their location, being surrounded by cold air currents and warm air currents. With such unpredictable weather, one would not feel down about the whole day being warm or cold. One might actually be excited and wonder how this afternoon will be. Will it be warm enough to ride my bike, or cold enough to snow? This, overall, would make life more interesting, which would lead to a happier life, and yet again, a longer life. They also have en extremely outstanding health program in Iceland. With such good programs, doctors, and nurses, misdiagnosis and other such mistakes are not as likely. Everyone has access to a health center nearby, and it is free. According to a survey people in Iceland are happy with the nursing. They get all important measures they need regarding health issue. There are special hospitals where operations are done. Other than the general check up specialists are there to provide people with all necessary treatment for those who need it. There are also more doctors per 1000 people, meaning more care and less waiting for those who are sick and in need of care. Almost all of Iceland's electricity and heating come from hydroelectric power and geothermal water reserves. With practically no use of fossil fuels (at least compared to the large amount we Americans use) there would be much less contamination and gases in the air to cause as many health issues.
There are a few issues that amount to more than we have, such as a twenty-two percent daily smoker rate- five percent higher than America’s. Breast cancer and some other diseases have a higher percent than ours as well. Still, they remain a high bar above us on other things, such as a lower obesity rate and teen pregnancies. Overall, they most likely live such long lives thanks to such great health care and just being so happy.
 Tennessee Kid Cooper · Wed Mar 11, 2009 @ 12:10pm · 0 Comments |
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