The State of Israel ranks among the world’s top 10 healthiest nations, according to the publication of the 2019 edition of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index.
(Last year, Israel ranked #9 on the list.)
The news outlet ranked 169 countries according to overall health factors such as life expectancy, obesity, access to clean water and sanitation, among others.
Surprisingly, the United States didn’t make the top 10, or even the top 20, ranking instead at #35. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. life expectancy was the factor that sank its rating, in part due to suicides and drug overdoses.
The top 10 countries this year are, in order, were:
Spain, Italy, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Singapore, Norway, and Israel.
Spain and Italy both share eating habits that are similar to those of Israelis, consisting primarily of a plant-based Mediterranean diet that uses olive or canola oils, whole grains, nuts and legumes.
