Is Hungary one of the unhealthiest countries in Europe?

A recent study revealed the health state of the countries in the world. Unfortunately, Central Europe did not do particularly well, and Hungary ended up among the unhealthiest countries. 

A number of different factors contribute to the worrying result, including the declining state of the environment, limited access to health services and increasingly unhealthy diets in the modern world – reports Kafkadesk.

The recent data is based on the Bloomberg Healthiest Countries Index which compares the health state of 169 countries based on a variety of different factors. These factors include life expectancy as well as environmental variables such as access to clean water or the degree of sanitation in a country. Negative factors like tobacco use and obesity are also taken into account, and countries receive penalties for these.

The healthiest countries on the list

This year, Spain secured the first place, surpassing the last edition’s winner, Italy. According to the survey,

“Spain has the highest life expectancy at birth among European Union nations, and trails only Japan and Switzerland globally.”

Moreover, experts say that the country is going to have the highest life expectancy by 2040, with about 86 years.

Another explanation for the leading position of Southern European countries is the famous Mediterranean diet, often supplemented by nuts and extra-virgin oil.

Thirteen European countries, like Norway, Sweden, Italy, Iceland or Switzerland, ended up in a respectable position on the list and are among the top 20. Two other countries in the lead come from Oceania, three from Asia, one from the Middle East and one from North-America.