Higher female survival to 65 correlates with greater male overweight share
Comparing Survival to age 65, female (% of cohort) with Share of overweight men vs women across 195 countries, 2024–2024.
- Rank correlation
- +0.58
- Holding size constant
- +0.48
- Countries compared
- 195
- Period
- 2024–2024
What might link these
Wealthier or more developed nations may have better healthcare (raising survival) but also higher calorie intake and sedentary lifestyles (increasing male overweight). A careful reader should note that correlation does not imply causation, and other factors like diet culture or gender roles might drive both trends.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. Correlation may reflect broader development patterns rather than a direct link between the two indicators.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.