clipped from: www.cnn.com   
Americans are living longer than ever, but not as long as people in 41 other countries.
Countries that surpass the U.S. include Japan and most of Europe, as well as Jordan, Guam and the Cayman Islands.

A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. That life expectancy ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier, according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, had the longest life expectancy, at 83.5 years, according to the Census Bureau. It was followed by Japan, Macau, San Marino and Singapore.

A major one is that 45 million Americans lack health insurance
Among the other factors:
one of the highest obesity rates in the world
Racial disparities.

• A relatively high percentage of babies born in the U.S. die before their first birthday, compared with other industrialized nations.