UK life healthier for longer - Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows.

Healthy life expectancy increased by more than two years in the period 2008-2010 compared with 2005-2007. The proportion of life spent in good health has increased in England and Wales, but fallen in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The gap in people in good health, or those that are not, has widened. There are many complex reasons for this, because our health is affected by a range of factors - not just what we eat or drink, and how active we are, but also our work, housing and access to all sorts of facilities.

Key Points

• In the UK, males and females can expect to spend more than 80 per cent of their lives in very good or good general health from birth, falling to around 57 per cent at age 65.
• Males and females in England can expect to spend the longest periods in very good or good general health and free from a limiting persistent illness or disability. The shortest periods are inScotland and Northern Ireland.
• The proportion of life spent in very good or good general health is increasing in England and Wales but, on the whole, falling in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
• Males are spending a greater proportion of their lives in favourable health compared with females. However, in recent years this gap has narrowed as the health of females has improved more rapidly than for males.

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