Is There A World Of Difference?

Obesity is a bigger health crisis worldwide than hunger

. According to a 2012 report published in The Lancet, it's also the main cause of disabilities - back pain, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Nearly 500 researchers from 50 countries compared data from 1990 through 2010. With the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, there's been an 82% obesity increase. Although people are living longer than projected in 1990 - 10.7 years for men and 12.6 for women - on average they're ill or in pain for the last 14 years of life. This is attributed to the Western lifestyle being adopted worldwide - making it even wider.

Women worldwide earn less than men. In 2012 the Organization for Cooperation and Development looked at the pay gap among its 34 member countries. The median pay for women working full-time was 16% less than men. However, that's a 4% improvement since 2000. The gap was wider for people in their mid 20's-mid 40's, who were raising children under age 16. Median pay for the mothers was 22% less than the fathers. It was 7% less for women without children than for men without children. Establishing sustainable economies requires countries to do more than "pay lip service" to women.

Somalia is the world's most corrupt country. That's according to Transparency International's 2012 Corruption Perception Index. North Korea, Afghanistan, Sudan and Myanmar were also at the bottom of the list of 176 countries. Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied for least corrupt country followed by Sweden, Singapore and Switzerland. The U.S. was ranked 19th. The rankings were based on a 0-100 scale, with 100 being "very clean". Unfortunately, the majority of countries scored below 50, indicating serious corruption. Countries were ranked on "perception" of corruption because accurate, statistical collection of wrongdoing is impossible. Bad news doesn't always travel fast.

Latin Americans are the world's happiest people. A 2012 Gallop poll surveyed about 1,000 people in each of 148 countries. They were asked if they were well-rested, had been treated with respect, smiled or laughed a lot, learned or did something interesting and felt feelings of enjoyment the previous day. Panama and Paraguay tied as happiest with 85% saying yes to all 5 questions. They were followed closely by El Salvador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica. Singapore was the unhappiest country and the U.S. was 33rd. Obviously, happy hours aren't making Americans happy enough.

by: Knight Pierce Hirst

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