The world's healthiest nations

From Bloomberg:

Maybe it’s something in the gazpacho or paella, as Spain just surpassed Italy to become the world’s healthiest country.

That’s according to the 2019 edition of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, which ranks 169 economies according to factors that contribute to overall health. Spain placed sixth in the previous gauge, published in 2017.

Four additional European nations were among the top 10 in 2019: Iceland (third place), Switzerland (fifth), Sweden (sixth) and Norway (ninth). Japan was the healthiest Asian nation, jumping three places from the 2017 survey into fourth and replacing Singapore, which dropped to eighth. Australia and Israel rounded out the top 10 at seventh and 10th place.

Researchers say eating habits may provide clues to health levels enjoyed by Spain and Italy, as a “Mediterranean diet, supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts, had a lower rate of major cardiovascular events than those assigned to a reduced-fat diet,” according to a study led by the University of Navarra Medical School.

Meanwhile in North America, Canada’s 16th-place ranking far surpassed the U.S. and Mexico, both of which dropped slightly to 35th and 53rd. Life expectancy in the U.S. has been trending lower due to deaths from drug overdoses and suicides.

Cuba placed five spots above the U.S., making it the only nation not classified as "high income" by the World Bank to be ranked that high. One reason for the island nation’s success may be its emphasis on preventative care over the U.S. focus on diagnosing and treating illness, the American Bar Association Health Law Section said in a report last year after vising Cuba.

The article is dancing around the elephant in the room.  One would expect developed countries to have better health than developing countries.  Yet the USA, one of the wealthiest nations on Earth, doesn't rank number 1 on health, but 35th.  The reason isn't just diet (and admittedly, the US diet is terrible).  It's because other developed countries have free public health systems.  Which means they tend to have more preventive health initiatives, such as campaigns to encourage better eating, more exercise, etc.  The USA spends a larger proportion of GDP on health than any other country, with blatantly worse results.  For example, it spends twice as much as Australia, yet we are 7th in the list and the USA is 35th.