Americans Less Healthy, Die Earlier Than Those in Peer Nations: The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council report that higher rates of death in those under 50 hold back our overall life expectancy compared to that of 16 other developed countries, like Canada, Japan, Australia, France, Germany and Spain. American men, especially, ranked last in life expectancy. Younger Americans tend to have higher rates of death from guns, car accidents and drug addiction. Americans also have the second highest rates of lung disease, heart disease, and the highest diabetes rates compared to those countries