A new study indicates that while more Americans than English citizens get cancer, they die of it less frequently (the money we spend here is double what they spend in England).

Yet the richest among us have rates of disease comparable to the poorest classes in England. Adult white Americans suffer diabetes at double the rates of their English counterparts.

Having lived in England for a year once upon a time, I’m going to hazard a guess as to why… People there walk WAY more there than we do here. It’s just a part of life to walk to the store and to the “tube” (rapid transit) and to the local restaurants and pubs. Far fewer Englishmen even own a single car–something like 50% (stats here), whereas car ownership statistics for America as long ago as 1996 say there’s a car for every person with a drivers’ license–and that 60% of families have two. But why not? The way we’ve built our average American cities–everything is far apart. Suburbs have created incredible sprawl.

And then there’s the chance that stress in America is a lot higher. But that’s a whole ‘nuther post…