Yahoo News Life expectancy falls in Scotland for first time in 35 years
The first drop in life expectancy in Scotland for 35 years should “shame” both the Scottish and UK governments, it has been claimed.
Official figures revealed that life expectancy for men had fallen slightly from 77.07 years for boys born in 2014-16, to 77.02 years for those born in 2015-17. Over the same period, the figure for women fell from 81.15 years to 81.09 years.
Opposition parties said the data from the National Records of Scotland was a “wake up call” for the SNP administration and all those involved in public health.
The decline followed three years in which there was little change in life expectancy and NRS said it indicated a "stall in life expectancy improvements” north of the border.
Life expectancy has increased by 7.9 years for men and 5.8 years for women over the last 35 years, but the figures show Scotland still has the lowest life expectancy of the four nations in the UK.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that life expectancy for the UK as a whole was unchanged, with a girl born between 2015 and 2017 expected to live for 82.9 years, and boys expected to live for 79.2 years.
That is a statistic which should shame both the Tory and SNP governments
Anas Sarwar
However, those figures remain lower than in many comparable countries internationally and the figures were described as "concerning" by Janet Morrison, chief executive of the charity Independent Age.
"More must be done to understand what is driving this," she said. "These figures starkly highlight the need for health and care services to adapt to our ageing population, and the government must ensure that these services can support people to live long, healthy, happy lives."
New statistics also showed yesterday that the number of Scots living to be 100 years old is at near record level, with the country having an estimated 900 centenarians in 2017 - an increase of 45 per cent in the past decade.
Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour’s health spokesman, said the last time life expectancy had fallen was in 1983, when Tory Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, adding: “That is a statistic which should shame both the Tory and SNP governments.
“After more than a decade of the SNP in charge of the country's health service, Scotland has the lowest life expectancy rates of any part of the UK."
Annie Wells, Scottish Conservative public health spokeswoman, said the decrease was a “wake-up call for everyone involved in public health improvement in Scotland” and that education, health and economic activity all had their roles to play in raising life expectancy.
Alex Cole-Hamilton, Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said the change should ring alarm bells “at the very top of government” and called on the SNP government to step up efforts to improve Scotland’s health.
He said a slew of statistics revealed a worrying diagnosis, including two thirds of adults being overweight or obese, a third of men drinking to levels described as hazardous or harmful, and 10 per cent of adults not consuming any fruit or vegetables in the course of a day.
He added: “Ingrained unhealthy lifestyle choices are having a devastating impact on our physical wellbeing and causing an obesity epidemic. Meanwhile, mental ill health is at crisis levels.
"These figures show the urgent need to make a transformative investment in mental health and for public health interventions on the scale of the smoking ban introduced 12 years ago, this time focusing on Scotland's poor diet and lack of activity."
