Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland – the four countries reporting the most “life satisfaction” according to Gallup poll – also have some of Europe’s highest life expectancy rates.
Advertisement
Americans may soon lose the title of the world’s most obese people if Europeans maintain their habits of heavy drinking, smoking and overeating.
For Ireland, the life expectancy for a man is 78.5 and 83 for a woman, which is more than the regional average, of 73.1 years for a man and 80.3 for a woman.
While Europeans are living longer than ever before, increases in life expectancy and declines in premature mortality may “flatten off” if the three big lifestyle risk factors are not dealt with, a senior World Health Organization director said.
“Alcohol consumption, tobacco use and overweight and obesity remain major public health problems in the region”.
A new report has found British women have the second worst life expectancy among 15 European countries, alongside high death rates from cancer and diabetes.
Losing the war against obesity? These are non-infectious diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, which are usually associated with lifestyle factors including obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption. “There is a very real risk that these gains will be lost if smoking and alcohol consumption continue at the current rate…this is especially relevant to young people, who may not live as long as their grandparents”, she stressed. On top of the high smoking rate, the researchers reported that this region also had the highest levels of alcohol consumption.
Across the 53-member WHO European region, 30% of the population smokes, the equivalent of 11 litres of pure alcohol is drunk per person per year and 59% of the population overweight or obese.
As stated by WHO’s research and statistics, “16% of all deaths in adults over 30 in the WHO European Region were due to tobacco.”. The average immunisation coverage for measles rose from 93.4% in 2010, to 93.7% in 2011 and 94.6% in 2012 and is still increasing.
However, gaps in immunity “still account for ongoing endemic transmission and have led to a number of outbreaks of measles and rubella in recent years”, the report said.
Stein also underlined the great health inequalities across Europe.
Infant mortality has fallen to an all-time low but there remains a 10-fold difference between the highest and lowest countries, with 22 deaths per 1,000 births in Kyrgyzstan compared to two in Finland.
By comparison, Slovenia, in eastern Europe, has a female life expectancy of 83.2.
Official figures last week revealed average life expectancy in England has risen by five years and five months since 1990.
Advertisement
The European report is a triennial affair that covers 53 countries.
