Scots ‘face less time in good health’ than rest of UK

SCOTS can expect to spend a smaller proportion of their lives in good health compared to the rest of the UK, a national study has found.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a ten per cent decrease in the proportion of life spent in good health for men, and a four per cent drop for women.

By 65, men can expect just 51.9 per cent of the rest of their lives to be healthy, and for women it is 56 per cent.

This has dropped from 62.2 per cent for men and 60.2 per cent for women two years ago.

A 65-year-old man in Scotland can expect 8.6 years more of good health, and women can expect 10.8 years, compared to the previous figures of 9.9 and 11.3 years respectively.

These statistics go against the trend elsewhere in the UK, where the amount of time people in England and Wales spend in good health is increasing. Only Scotland and Northern Ireland showed a decline.

But the figures also reveal some good news - that the proportion of life spent free from a limiting persistent illness or disability was higher for women in Scotland than any other part of the UK. Women in Scotland can expect five years more of ‘disability free life’ than men, the study found.

The ONS study also showed total healthy life expectancy from birth for boys born in Scotland between 2008 and 2010 is just under 60 years, and for girls is just over 64 years.

The figures, released yesterday, show people in Scotland continue to have the shortest life expectancy in the UK.

Men can now expect to live until 75.8 years of age and women to 80.3. This is below the UK average of 78.1 years for men and 82.1 years for women.

Experts say men are living shorter lives because, on average, they drink and smoke more than women. Also, a larger number of men are more seriously obese than women.