How Healthy You Feel Depends on Where You Live

When you ask people around the world to rate their physical health on a scale from 0 to 10, the answers might surprise you. A massive new study surveyed over 200,000 people across 22 countries to understand how self-rated physical health varies. The findings reveal a striking pattern: three of the four highest health scores came from developing, non-Western countries—Indonesia, Nigeria, and Kenya.

People in some of the world's wealthiest nations report feeling less physically healthy than those in several developing countries.

Meanwhile, the five lowest scores were all in economically developed nations: Germany, Australia, Sweden, the UK, and Japan. Japan had the lowest average score at 5. 97, while Indonesia topped the list at 8. 29.

This suggests that having a wealthy nation does not automatically mean its people feel healthier. The study also looked at how health ratings differ across age, gender, and other personal traits. On average, younger people tended to rate their health higher than older people. Men tended to report slightly better health than women. People who were employed or students generally felt healthier than those who were retired or unemployed.

And interestingly, people who attended religious services more often tended to report higher health scores. However, these patterns were not universal. The way age, gender, or education related to health differed a lot depending on the country. For example, in the United States, older adults actually reported some of the highest health scores, which is unusual compared to most other countries. In Japan, women rated their health higher than men, the opposite of the general trend. These differences suggest that local culture, context, and life circumstances matter a great deal when it comes to how people perceive their own health.