The World's Healthiest Country

The Bloomberg Global Health Index is a ranking of countries based on how healthy they are. While it may sound silly to declare a certain country as healthy, several factors are taken into account when deciding this. Some of those include the rate of development, pollution rates, health care, and its accessibility and clean drinking water, along with how accessible it is as well.

When a country shows positive signs on all of those factors, including many others, it is determined to be a healthy country. On the other hand, unhealthy countries often do not have access to health care, the water is polluted, as is the environment in general. This pollution may lead to various diseases and even death. Taking all of this into account, according to the Bloomberg Global Health Index, the healthiest country in the world is currently Spain.

The Bloomberg Global Health Index

When trying to determine if a country should be considered healthy or unhealthy, the Bloomberg Global Health Index takes several most important factors into account. The most important ones are health risks, malnutrition, availability of clean water, causes of death, and life expectancy. Health risks that are monitored are tobacco use, obesity, and high blood pressure. All of these are considered to be a large problem in most modern societies, so it is important to look for ways to lessen their impact. Malnutrition refers to a diet with not enough nutrients, which can cause severe health problems. 

The availability of clean water is considered to be extremely important, which is something that is often taken for granted. Countries with easier access to clean water can expect their inhabitants to lead healthier lives, seeing how important it is to hydrate. Causes of death and life expectancy are pretty much self-explanatory, countries with higher life expectancies can be expected to be ranked higher on the list of healthiest countries. After taking a look at all of these factors, countries are given specific ratings, from 1 to 100. In 2019, the country with the highest rating was Spain, with a rating of 92.75.

Spain As The Healthiest Country

The life expectancy in Spain is 83.5 years, and experts believe that it will continue rising. It is expected that it will be 85.8 years in 2040, which will make it the highest in the entire world. Residents of Spain might be known across the globe for drinking wine, smoking, and leading active lives that often lead to them staying up late, but certain factors make them healthier than average. This has mostly to do with their diet and some lifestyle choices. When talking about diet, it’s worth noting that the Mediterranean diet that the people in Spain eat every day has most, if not all, ingredients needed for healthy nutrition.

The food that Spanish people eat has a ton of healthy fats, doesn’t contain much-processed ingredients or red meat, and is generally quite healthy, even though it may not seem so at first. They also eat large amounts of vegetables and fruits. The lifestyle choices of Spanish people that lead to them being healthy are mostly tied to their choice of transportation.

According to research, Spain has the largest number of walkers in Europe. At least 37% of Spaniards walk to work, which only helps develop their healthy lifestyle. This is especially impressive when compared to the United States, where only 6% of Americans decide not to use their cars, and instead, choose to walk to work. Another impressive thing about Spain is its universal healthcare system, responsible for saving a huge number of lives. Other countries that are considered to be among the healthiest are Italy, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, and Singapore.