A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that even the wealthiest Americans have higher mortality rates than the wealthiest Europeans. The richest Americans have mortality rates comparable to the poorest residents of northern and western Europe. Across every wealth category, Americans are more likely to die younger than Europeans.
Public Opinion on RFK Jr and Health Advice
The Make America Healthy Again movement, led by US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, highlights soaring rates of obesity, diabetes and chronic disease. The movement's public face includes influencers promoting individual solutions such as eating red meat, doing push-ups, drinking raw milk, and avoiding vaccines. Meanwhile, public health agencies are gutted and research is not funded. Polling shows that 60% of voters disapprove of the job RFK Jr is doing, and scientists remain among the most trusted sources of health information.
Why Americans Die Younger
The US is a uniquely violent high-income country, with guns the leading cause of death for children and adolescents, followed by road traffic collisions. The firearm death rate among American children is 72 times higher than in the UK, with one mass shooting per day on average. The US does not regulate guns as tightly as the UK, which effectively banned handguns after the Dunblane shooting, and has not addressed road safety as a government issue.
Additionally, the US is the only high-income country that does not guarantee healthcare. Around 26 million Americans remain uninsured, and millions more have insurance with high deductibles. An estimated 57% of underinsured adults delayed or avoided medical care because of cost. This leads to higher levels of preventable and treatable mortality compared to Europeans.
European Lessons for US Health
Most European countries share universal healthcare, strong regulation of guns, investment in public transport and road safety, and through EU legislation an emphasis on food quality and safe ingredients. The Maha movement, rooted in libertarianism, pushes individual solutions. However, many contributors to premature mortality require policies and institutions to reduce collective risks. Public health policies can bring more freedom, such as the UK's gun regulations that have prevented school shootings since Dunblane.
The US needs public policy that makes daily life healthier and less dangerous. The Maha movement, through RFK Jr, has done the opposite by diminishing key US public health agencies like the CDC, FDA, and NIH, and removing the US from the World Health Organization.
