USA! USA! We're number...uh, 42.

Hard to imagine that a country where you can buy the 2,900 calorie per order "Aussie Cheese Fries" from Outback Steakhouse (that's actually how many calories they have, I'm not making that up) would have a problem maintaining its once enviable life expectancy, but, 'tis true!

The United States has fallen behind many industrialised nations in life expectancy rankings, although Americans are living longer than ever, a media report said.

Fortyone countries have gone past the US, which include not only Japan and many in Europe but also Jordan, Guam and the Cayman islands, the report said. ...

A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. The life expectancy now ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier, according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Centre for Health Statistics.

But for those of you who want to fit this into your nefarious liberal utopia of socialized medicine, think again!

But "it's not as simple as saying [the U.S. doesn't] have national health insurance," said Sam Harper, an epidemiologist at McGill University in Montreal.

That's right, libs! There's tons of other reasons! Like, uh, we're all fatasses!

Besides, US has one of the highest obesity rates in the world with nearly one-third of adults of 20 years and above obese and about two thirds are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Oh, yeah, and there's also that pesky institutionalized racism thing!

Racial disparities are also seen as a factor as Black Americans have an average life expectancy of 73.3 years, five years shorter than white Americans.

Black American males have a life expectancy of 69.8 years, slightly longer than the averages for Iran and Syria and slightly shorter than in Nicaragua and Morocco, it has been pointed out.

Ha ha, Syria! Deal with that!

All in all, a truly shameful statistic, one that puts the lie to the constant rah rah, we're #1 talk.