Do you want the good or bad news first? According to a new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Americans have been leading longer and healthier lives in the past 50 years, thanks to a reduction in smoking, drinking, and dangerous driving. But to nullify those positive trends, they are also getting increasingly obese, overdosing on drugs, and getting shot. Between 1960 to 2010, Americans gained 1.82 years of life expectancy for good health, but at the same time, obesity rates and poisonous substance deaths cut it by 1.77 years.
