Spain world’s 7th healthiest nation, says new study

The Spanish diet is varied and generally healthy, while the country delivers good healthcare and safety for its citizens across the board.

At first, second, third and even fourth glance, Spain may not seem like the kind of place where one can lead a piously clean and healthy life.

Health-harming temptation awaits on almost every corner, from the dusty, wine-drenched bodegas of Seville, the jamon fat-flecked floors of Cádiz’s famous sherry bars, or the many thousands of tourist-friendly bars that line the nation’s Mediterranean resorts…

But healthy Spain is, and it has the certificates to prove it. Not only do Spaniards live some of the longest lives in the world – aided in no small part by the abundance of fresh fruit, fish and veg in a typical Mediterranean diet – but they also live some of the most active and disease-free lives, too.

The results of a recent worldwide project called the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) were published last week in famed medical journal The Lancet that ranked Spain seventh overall in terms of healthy living.

The study took into account a range of factors, including not only lifestyle choices but also more measurable metrics such as infant and maternal mortality, controlling the spread of diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis, cutting the number of road crash deaths, and lowering instances of death and poor health brought on by drug and alcohol abuse.

Having assessed such parameters, the study then assigned a percentage score to each nation. Spain achieved 82% to put the country level with The Netherlands, Finland and – perhaps surprisingly – the UK. Spain’s neighbour Andorra was ranked slightly ahead with a score of 83%, with the top score of 85% shared by three nations: Iceland, Sweden and Singapore.

Rounding out the top ten was Canada and Australia, which both scored 81%.

Spain performed particularly well on its healthcare provision, low rates of heart disease, infant mortality rates and overall diet. The country achieved a ‘pass’ but ‘could do better’ on the metrics of alcohol abuse and suicide, while more improvements are urged on cutting smoking – Spain’s score of just 33% on this metric was one of the lowest in the Western world.

Unsurprisingly, nations in sub-Saharan Africa made up the majority of the bottom ten, joined by Afghanistan. These nations are bedevilled by a general lack of access to healthcare, high levels of preventable disease, contaminated water, air pollution and high rates of both infant and maternal mortality.