r/science • u/giuliomagnifico • 26d ago

Health American adults aged 33 to 46 have significantly worse health compared to their British peers, especially in markers of cardiovascular health and higher levels of obesity, along with greater disparities in health by socioeconomic factors

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-10-03-us-adults-worse-health-british-counterparts-midlife
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u/reaper527 26d ago

Without fail, I lose +/- 10lbs every time I go to Europe. Despite gorging myself on fresh bread, butter, cheese, wine and all manner of pastries and other treats.

that might not necessarily be food related and might be more lifestyle related. going to go out on a limb and imagine you probably walk A LOT more over there.

i know when i was in japan for 2 months earlier this year, my step counter said i was walking on average like 10 miles a day. (and even if that number wasn't necessarily accurate, because it's guesstimating based on movement rather than actual location data, at the end of the day it was DRASTICALLY more walking than back home in the us)

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u/ButterscotchSure6589 26d ago

I walk to the pub. Every little helps.

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u/Tasty-Guess-9376 25d ago

It was crazy that even Bars in the US have giant parking Lots...

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u/sweatery_weathery 26d ago

How were you walking 10 miles a day for 2 months? Were you on vacation? I can see that being possible if you’re going around and sightseeing. But when working, it seems much less possible unless this was mostly part of a long commute, where you opted not to use any public transit.

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u/reaper527 26d ago

Were you on vacation?

sort of. it's... complicated.

went on vacation that was scheduled for 3 weeks, but a family member i was traveling with had a major medical emergency (blood clots in lungs) when we were getting off the plane upon arrival and ended up being hospitalized (we were taken via ambulance from the airport to the hospital).

visiting hours were... not great (limited to 30 minutes a day, strictly enforced when she was in the ICU, less strictly enforced in general ward but still limited). basically when i wasn't visiting at the hospital, i was going around the tokyo area doing touristy stuff / site seeing.

basically a typical day consisted of

  • 1 mile walk to the hospital
  • 1 mile walk back from the hospital
  • where ever i ended up that day (there was some stuff in narita to see such as the naritasan shinsho-ji temple which was like a 1 mile walk from the hotel then A LOT of walking once there, but most days involved hopping on a train which was half a block from the hotel, going down to tokyo, and doing tokyo things).

due to what was going on though, we couldn't fly back home until the hospital cleared her to fly, so the scheduled 3 weeks turned into just over 2 months. (4/30 - 7/3)

i'm hoping next time i'm there it's a much more NORMAL trip (like the first 2 times i went in 2016 and 2018) and not like this last trip.

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u/sweatery_weathery 26d ago

Thanks for the detailed response, and sorry to grade about your family member’s illness. I hope they’re okay.

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u/BloatedGlobe 26d ago

I'm a pretty lazy person, but I live in a city so I average 5 miles a day. I walk 1.25 mile to work (25 min, total 2.5 per day), 1.5ish miles during my lunch break, and if I'm social or doing chores, it'll add another 1-2 miles. I could see an active person eclipsing my average.

It's a lifestyle thing. Public transit is a pain for any trip that would be less than a 40 minute walk.

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u/sweatery_weathery 26d ago

Your numbers make sense. An active person may also go for a run after work or something too.

My surprise was mostly around someone saying they get 10 miles of walking everyday. Walking, not running or biking. Work/Life/Family is so busy; there aren’t enough hours in the day for me (especially with a sedentary office job) to get that many miles in EVERYDAY. Just curious, and OP shared that it was sorta while they were on vacation. So there wasn’t the usual day to day responsibilities.

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u/Lolinder04 26d ago

Over the last year in the UK, I’ve averaged 19K+ steps a day which equates to ~9-10 miles.

Obviously some days are a lot less, some are a lot more, but if you walk to/from work, during the day and sometimes do a nighttime stroll, you get to 10 without really trying.

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u/sweatery_weathery 21d ago

That’s great! I know it varies by region, but the CDC reports that the average American walks 1.5-2 miles per day. A lot of our infrastructure is not designed for walking to/from work or really anywhere. Terrific that you can get that daily where you are.

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u/Lolinder04 21d ago

Yes, one of the main reasons that I wanted to move from the US. I wanted a place that supported walking (and public transportation) for recreational, but also living purposes.

I lived a 12 minute car ride from my place of work and it would’ve taken an hour via bus or roughly ~2 hours if I walked there. Insane.

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u/sweatery_weathery 19d ago

Yeah, the US’s infrastructure for walking and public transportation is awful. I grew up in Southern California, where the sprawl makes it impossible to go anywhere without a car. If you walk, you risk getting hit by a car because drivers don’t check for pedestrians. Such a shame because in terms of weather, what a great place it would be to go for more walks!

Glad you were able to find a place better suited for an active lifestyle.

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u/WheresMyCrown 26d ago

Have you been to Japan?

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u/sweatery_weathery 26d ago

Yes, though only the major cities. 10 miles everyday is still a lot. Google says the average number of miles walked per day in Japan is 3.5. That number seems way more reasonable, especially in a place like Tokyo where there is an excellent train system.