Here Are 3 Reasons Americans Die Younger Than People In Other Countries

If you've been blaming the fact Americans die earlier than people in Europe on McDonald's and soda, I've got some earth-shattering news for you: There are three other big things lowering our life expectancies.

Drug overdoses, vehicle accidents and guns are reportedly three of the biggest reasons Americans don't live as long as people in other well-off countries.

This new information comes from a study conducted by US government researchers. A team at the National Center for Health Statistics decided to get to the bottom of why people in the US have a lower life expectancy at birth than other high-income countries such as Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Want numbers? Men and women in those countries live over two years longer than people in the US, on average. Men live 78.6 years versus 76.4 years in the US, and women live 83.4 years versus 81.2 years in the US.

Guns, drugs and car accidents reportedly account for about 100,000 deaths per year in the US.

Surprised? It goes without saying guns are a huge problem in the United States. Guns kill more people per year than terrorism has since 9/11, and there were at least 355 mass shootings in 2015 alone.

The numbers on drug overdoses are pretty dismal as well. Between 2001 and 2014, the number of prescription drug-related deaths nearly tripled, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

As for car accidents, in 2013, there were more than 32,000 motor vehicle-related deaths.

You can see how it all adds up, right? America, these are things we need to work on.

Citations: What's Killing Americans? Guns, Cars and Drugs (NBC News), Overdose Death Rates (National Institute on Drug Abuse), General statistics (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)