Findings on healthy life expectancy in UK shed light on its deteriorating health
Summary
A recent report shows that healthy life expectancy in the UK has dropped by two years in the past decade, meaning people spend more years living with illness before retirement. This decline is worse than in similar rich countries and is linked to lifestyle factors like poor diet, alcohol, and smoking.Key Facts
- Healthy life expectancy measures how many years people live in good health, not just how long they live.
- In the UK, healthy life expectancy fell from around 62 to about 61 years between 2012-14 and 2022-24.
- People in poorer areas have a healthy life expectancy below 55 years, indicating ill-health often starts during working age.
- The decline is unique among wealthy countries, where healthy life expectancy has slightly increased.
- About 40% of cancers are preventable and connected to lifestyle choices like diet, alcohol, and smoking.
- The UK government has been criticized for not doing enough to address public health problems such as obesity and alcohol use.
- Experts suggest stronger policies like extending sugar taxes and minimum alcohol pricing to improve health.
- A 10-year plan aiming to improve health and reform the NHS has begun, but progress is slow.
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