Life expectancy is a good measure of the health and success of a country, and in the United States, life expectancy is falling. After decades of progress improving life spans, we’ve seen a reversal. Many people are dying early of chronic illnesses like diabetes, obesity, hypertension and fatty liver disease.

We talk about the Washington Post’s series “Dying Early: America’s Life Expectancy Crisis” with Akilah Johnson, one of the reporters who contributed to it.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.