What's the reason the richest country in the world, the USA, ranks 42nd in life expectancy? Does America?

The reason is simple; the majority of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few. As another user pointed out, it becomes too expensive for many people to seek out preventative health care. Many people, even if they do have health care, cannot take the time off from work to go see a doctor. There is also an attitude regarding work in America that has not been pointed out yet. Americans, when compared to other industrialized nations, work the most while actually accomplishing the least. There is a notion that if you take time off from work, you are lazy, when that is simply not true. People end up working 60, 70, 80 hour weeks which inevitably takes a toll on one's health. Here is where fast food becomes a factor in a person's health. Instead of sitting down for a good meal, many Americans simply stop at McDonalds because it is fast and easy. Otherwise, blaming fast food for America's health problems is pure idiocy and ignoring the fact that is an unhealthy ism regarding work and material goods that is killing people. People believe that the only goals in life are to have a big house and a fancy car (and so on), so they expend all their effort in an attempt to obtain those things. This ultimately leaves people unsatisfied, because it leads to alienation from humanity. People then spend more time at work trying to make more money, instead of finding joy in the work itself (which is nearly impossible in a capitalist society anyways). Material goods begin to control a person's life and many people simply work themselves into an early grave.