England’s waistlines are expanding, leading to the country lagging behind other European nations in life expectancy, a study suggests.
Researchers are calling for urgent action to combat unhealthy lifestyles, citing poor diets and a lack of exercise as key factors.
While advances in heart disease and cancer care boosted life expectancy between 1990 and 2011, these improvements slowed considerably from 2011 to 2019.
Researchers attribute this slowdown to rising body mass index (BMI) scores, poor diets, and low exercise levels.
The study, led by experts from the University of East Anglia (UEA), examined life expectancy trends across 20 European countries from 1990 to 2021.
The researchers compared various factors impacting life expectancy in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and other European nations including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
Between 1990 and 2011, all countries experienced annual life expectancy improvements, averaging 0.23 years. However, the rate of improvement decreased between 2011 and 2019 in all but one country (Norway).
In England, life expectancy increased by an average of 0.25 years annually from 1990 to 2011.
This slowed to an average increase of 0.07 years in 2011 to 2019.
Researchers said that England experienced the largest decline in life expectancy improvement during the period studied.
Between 2019 and 2021, which includes the first part of the Covid-19 pandemic, most countries saw a fall in life expectancy except for Ireland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
Researchers said that the countries which “best maintained” improvements in life expectancy had fewer heart disease and cancer deaths.
They called for government action to improve overall population health, including helping people to have better diets and more exercise.
Lead researcher Professor Nick Steel, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “Advances in public health and medicine in the 20th century meant that life expectancy in Europe improved year after year, but this is no longer the case.
“We found that deaths from cardiovascular diseases were the primary driver of the reduction in life expectancy improvements between 2011–19. Unsurprisingly, the Covid pandemic was responsible for decreases in life expectancy seen between 2019–21.”
He continued: “Countries like Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and Belgium held onto better life expectancy after 2011, and saw reduced harms from major risks for heart disease, helped by government policies.
“In contrast, England and the other UK nations fared worst after 2011 and also during the Covid pandemic, and experienced some of the highest risks for heart disease and cancer, including poor diets.”
Asked about England specifically, he said: “We’re not doing so well with heart disease and cancer.
“We have high dietary risks in England and high levels of physical inactivity and high obesity levels.”
The trends are decades long and there isn’t a quick fix, he said.
