Statistics made available by the World Health Organization have pointed to longer life span for Canadians as well as people elsewhere in the world. According to the report, those born in 2012 can expect to see an additional six summers compared to those born in 1990. The study further says that females may live up to 73 years of age on an average while it could be about 68 years for the male.

The average life expectancy in Canada has moved up by 5 years with male children born in 2012 expected to celebrate their 80th birthday and the female children living for another 4 years taking it to 84 years for the women

The highest life expectancy for men is in Iceland where male children born in 2012 could live up to 81 years while the Japanese women have the highest life expectancy at 87 years. On a Global scale too, women are expected to outlive men by at least 5 years and this could be even higher in high income countries. On the other hand, low income countries are experiencing a significantly higher average life expectancy adding some 9 years to the existing numbers.

The WHO points out that the surge in life expectancy in low income countries is attributable to fewer children dying within the age of 5 years in these countries.  Premature deaths, according to WHO has a significant impact on life expectancy. In high income nations, most premature deaths were caused by non communicable diseases like heart ailments or stroke while in the low income countries, the more common cause of death was infectious diseases and in African nations 70% premature deaths were attributed to this cause. The report further adds that Pneumonia was among the major causes of death of children below 5 years.

As for the developing countries, the WHO report states that the decrease in tobacco use and consequent impact on strokes and heart diseases have contributed to the higher life expectancy. The report further states that just about a third of deaths around the world are recorded with the cause of death. Another finding by the WHO is that some 6.7 percent of children around the world are obese.