LONDON, July 13 (Xinhua) -- A report published Thursday reveals that people in the richest areas of England live on average 20 years longer than those living in the poorest areas.
Public Health England (PHE) has first time ever used its wealth of population health data to give an overall picture of the health of England.
PHE said people in England are living longer than ever with life expectancy for males now 79.5 while for females it is 83.1 years for females. However, says the Health Profile Report, much of the extra time is spent in poor health.
In 1981, male life expectancy was 6 years lower than female life expectancy in 198, and now the gap is less than four years.
A major theme of the Health Profile for England report is health inequalities. Some of the report's more notable findings shows life expectancy has increased more than years in good health and therefore the number of years lived in poor health has also increased.
For the first time, diabetes makes the top 10 causes of ill-health and disability (morbidity), while the two biggest risk factors behind levels of ill health are excess weight and high blood sugar.
Lower back and neck pain are the biggest causes of ill health, and while heart disease and strokes are still the biggest killers of men, the number of deaths from those diseases has halved since 2001.
In women, the biggest killers are Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
Duncan Selbie, chief executive of PHE said health profiles show a high-quality education, a well-designed and warm home, a good job and a community to belong to are important.
"The more we consider the impact of all policies on population health, the sooner we can focus on preventing poor health instead of only dealing with its consequences, especially for those from the most deprived communities," said Selbie.
