Fat and Happy

Recently I read two seperate studies within a couple of weeks of each other.  Both are very subjective and both touch on quality of life. 

Australia is a happy place. The UN did a survey of the level of happiness of the worlds developed countries.  The results are below.  

1) Denmark
2) Finland
3) Norway
4) Netherlands
5) Canada
6) Switzerland
7) Sweden
8) New Zealand
9) Australia
10) Ireland

I've seen a few different lists from the same study so it appears that the results are somewhat fluid.  However, the same countries, more or less, tend to show up on most lists.  Some observations of the list:

-4 of the countries are Scandanavian.  Apparently there's something about cross-country skiing and sauna's that makes you happy.  I thought the frustration of trying to assemble Ikea furniture would have pushed Sweden off the list altogether.

-7 are in Europe if you count Ireland as part of Europe.  I guess the constant threat of living in default has the peculiar side-effect of giddiness.

-8 are considered cold climate regions, although it could be 9 if you consider New Zealand a cold climate.  I know that every winter day in Calgary I'd arrive home and be happy that I survived the roads.

-The USA just missed the top 10 by finishing 11th.  If you removed the city of Detroit from the country for the purposes of this study the USA probably would have finished top 5.

-Canada was on some top 10 lists but not on others.  I suppose it depends on the time of year that the survey took place.  If the survey was during hockey season and the respondents team had won that day it would result in a very different result than the boredom and gloom of the NHL off-season.  Also, if the survey took place just after last year's NHL playoff the residents of BC would have likely had a very negative response.  However, the rest of Canada would have been very happy.  Either way, it's a world top "happy country".

The other study looked at the fattest countries in the world.  The fattest developed nations in the world, according to the World Health Organization, are:

1) USA ("USA, USA, USA!!!")
2) Mexico
3) New Zealand
4) Chile
5) Australia
6) Canada
7) UK
8) Ireland
9) Luxembourg
10) Finland

Again, I've seen a few different versions of this list as well but they're all relatively consistent with each other.  (I've seen Australia listed as high as 2nd in this category.  Which is surprising considering that it's a sporty culture with lots of good opportunities to go outdoors and be active.  I blogged about our surprise at the Aussie waist line a couple months ago.)

Some interesting tidbits from the 'fat' list include:

-All 3 countries in North America are represented.  Canada, US and Mexico are among the fattest countries in the world and they all share the same land mass.  If I were a zombie in the upcoming zombie apocolypse I know the continent where I'd want to live.

-There is an even split between warm and cold climate nations.  Climate does not appear to be a factor in determining waistline.  So, global warming will not necessarily make us thinner.  Rush Limbaugh can now stop denying climate change is taking place.

-6 of the countries are english speaking (including Canada and if you consider the Irish as english speaking- just saying).  Considering the cuisine of many english speaking nations (burgers, steak, fish & chips, poutine, beer) this is shocking!

Some of the world's most powerful and populous developed nations are missing from both lists. Germany, France, Spain, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Italy and others are neither on the top 10 of the happy or fat lists. I'm not suggesting that they are skinny and miserable, the United Nations is suggesting that they are skinny and miserable...

When comparing the two lists some of the common countries that appear on both the happy and fat top 10 lists are:

Finland- 2nd happy, 10th fat
Canada- 5th happy, 6th fat
New Zealand- 8th happy, 3rd fat
Australia- 9th happy, 5th fat
Ireland- 10th happy, 8th fat
USA- 11th happy, 1st fat

In general there seems to be a correlation between fat and happy.  I suppose that this shouldn't come as a surprise since the citizens of nations that don't have to worry about starving to death tend to be a little more satisfied with their daily life than our starving, scrounging brethren around the world.
For the Klamer clan, it means that we've gone to a slightly less happy place (5th to 9th) and to a very slightly fatter place (5th to 6th).  Either way, it's really about the same for both measures.  So, we can be fat and jolly in either Canada or Australia.  However, we can be a lot warmer, fat and jolly in Australia than we can in Canada. In turn we can parade our fatness and jollyness at the beach on a regular occasion.  Maybe that's what's keeping the Australia happiness numbers lower than they should be?  Mystery solved.