AIBU to think poor health in later life is a UK problem?

[BePunnyLilacCrow]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20q07w3gl9o

I just read an article about healthy life expectancy in the UK, and I find it quite sad that we are basically at the bottom of the list among the world’s richest countries. Even the US is better than the UK on average??

Life expectancy in the UK is:

Men: ~79-80 years
Women: ~83-84 years

BUT

Men spend about 19–20 years in poorer health
Women spend about 22–23 years in poorer health

I know that the UK has relatively good overall life expectancy, but that mainly means we are keeping people alive for longer. Unfortunately, those extra years are often not spent in good health. These facts are not true for wealthier parts of the UK, but even the more affluent areas still tend to have lower healthy life expectancy than many average European countries. I am curious what
people think about the contributing factors? I think:

• Weaker family/social connections (I seriously think this is a big one)
• Obviously diet + high consumption of UPFs
• Low every day
activity (again, loneliness contributes to this esp. for the elderly)

There are many reasons, but in my opinion these contribute a lot. Especially weak social life I see in the UK compared to most countries I’ve lived/been to. For example something as simple as cooking together with people, or for family gatherings etc can have a huge impact on how people eat, because you are encouraged more to home cook food in that way, rather than just get a greasy takeaway or eat out, or just get a rubbish supermarket ready meals most people have etc.

This post is not about judging anyone’s lifestyle choices. But I think we should all be concerned about this because there is no point in living longer if it’s spent in illness. And I’m saying this as someone under 30.

What do you think? How can we improve these measures and live a better life in the UK?

I understand exhaustion. As a single mum I cooked for my ds all through breast cancer, chemo, radio. I was fit to drop most nights but I didn't resort to chicken nuggets. Just as I don't give up running charity 10ks now I'm in my 60s, because I know it keeps my bones and lungs and immune system strong. Being outside boosts my mood and gives me vit d.

Education is the key

It’s obesity related.
**
We eat complete crap.

And other countries, such as America, don't?

let alone the recommended 10k.

That's a completely arbitrary figure, not 'recommended'.

Sorry, I think that's nonsense. I'm 74, in good health and my lifestyle isn't much different from when I was young. If I've got another ten years to go, I'm hoping and expecting to carry on in the same way, eating good food, going out every day, driving, helping out with grandchildren, seeing friends. And I'm not wealthy.

Oh, I'm guilty too - we have a supermarket half a mile away but I often hop in the car instead of walk as I can't be bothered to walk back with all the shopping, lol.

I know it's arbitrary but I think it shows how sedentary people are when they're not even walking 2k steps a day - that's barely even a mile of movement.

This was me. I didn't overeat, I was thin everywhere else. I paid for surgery.

The problem with the NHS is it was never designed for prevention. It is a reactive, end stage, sick care model which frequently only treats people when they are way past the point of being able to gain meaningful benefit.

No cholesterol treatment until you either have an ASCVD event or are in the prodromal decade of one.

No DEXA until you have a fragility fracture (by which point the diagnosis can be made clinically)

Pre-diabetes - come back for a yearly blood test until you develop frank diabetes.

etc...

Also we have one of the world's largest health gaps between people in the top and bottom income deciles. This is the elephant in the room ignored by successive governments who continue to flog the personal responsibility paradigm. Why are far more poor people obese? Guess they must all just lack willpower.

Polands excellent economic and educational successes are very new though- it was a low income, fairly “left behind” country after the war- until a decade or so ago.

there is no doubt Poland was much worse off than the uk for much of the post war era (and still isn’t as wealthy)

I’d also be astonished if Poland was a healthier country, as they have high levels of alcoholism, fatal accidents, poor housing and infrastructure.

although maybe just means people die younger and therefore don’t have a place in this longevity conversation.

You're being reductive about one of the key parts of the issue. The poster you quote is hardly saying anything Earth-shattering. If children learned about nutrition and healthy food habits/options and how to incorporate them into the average lifestyle, at a young age, it would result in a healthier population.

I'm not sure what you're disputing here.

I think it's 21st century living which for many is just existing anyway. Up at all hours of the morning, home later at night, then into the second job at home which is often down to women let's face it. Kids babysat by screens, quick easy food, little activity, depression, stress, bills, weather, accommodation struggles, COL, you name it, many are struggling, and health is one of the things most affected.

So many threads on here - should I go to the GP, I'll struggle on with a paracetemol, should I go to A+E, what is this ailment and how will I treat it. So health is neglected. The easy things not being treated lead to worse outcomes for other things.

You may say but our parents/grandparents didn't have it easy either. No they didn't, but they didn't have screens, they had a GP who was part of the community and who would visit the house day or night, women stayed in hospital for a week after a birth, mothers generally were SAHMs, so kids had fresh meals prepared, fewer cars, lots of cycling and so on. It's just a different world now and is very driven. Kids must do twenty activities when two would do, must go to the gym every morning at 5 am, when two would do along with walking/cycling instead of driving where possible.

I'm guilty myself of many of the above, and it's life today. I don't know how to fix it.

I have several Polish friends who go back to Poland whenever they need healthcare as the NHS is so dire. They say you can get what you need e.g. scans, seeing a gynaecologist etc quickly and at low cost.

And they’re the most obese people too!

You can't write off an entire body of scientific analysis, just because it doesn't fit with where you are right now.

My mum is 82, walks 6 miles every day, and grows her own organic vegetables. I don't think her existence nullifies a ton of global data.

Who are?

There is no joined up public health policy. Nothing is integrated. Nothing.

I suppose it depends on what we mean by ‘poor health’. I read previously this was defined as the point when someone’s health has an impact on their quality of life, but I don’t know how much that would be subjective or whether this is counted in objective ways.

Presumably the ages given are averages and so will include people very much younger with long term illnesses and disabilities. And on the other hand, there will be people like your friends in their late 60s running marathons.

People I know in their early 60s tend to either have things like high blood pressure/cholesterol which is managed by medication, are fairly healthy in that respect but have something like arthritis which can impact on their movement, or have/ or are recovering from other health issues. So all have or have had some kind of health issue but none that stop them getting on with life, by which I mean working, shopping, socialising etc, not running marathons.

For example you're choosing to send your DC to activities and spend that time walking around the carpark doing squats when you could skip the activity and all do something else instead (like a bike ride, a walk, swimming, playing tennis or football etc).

He was at cricket training! It would be odd & unfair to take him off his team & make him “play” with me wouldn’t it?

Why would it be unfair? Loads of children don't cricket after school for a whole number of reasons - are they suffering because of it? I doubt it...

Surely the poster knows her own son and his preferences better than you??

Preferences =/= necessities, though.

My point is that lots of people make choices for themselves or their families that aren't necessarily the best in terms of health and lifestyle, they do it because it's fun or because their kids would prefer it.

I remember my dad picking me up from after-school club and taking me swimming, or for a bike ride, or to play tennis, for example. I never did organised activities - my parents just never presented them as an option lol.

What you’ve described isn’t education.
Refusing to eat eat convenience food under the circumstances you describe is just (quite extreme) determination and prioritisation of fresh food (maybe at the determent of more important things, for all we know)

Education doesn’t help a poorly, exhausted person get the energy to cook.

Teaching home economics isn’t one of the “key issues” at all! The over emphasis on food just demonstrates the privilege and health we do enjoy in this country in 2026.

It’s not pollution, dangerous working,fried food, alcohol, cigarettes or poor road safety killing us like it did it in 1960s and still does in much of the world- apparently it’s eating frozen reformed chicken rather than fresh. You must acknowledge how marginal and privileged this conversation is .

But a team sport for a boy is more than just exercise - although it is exercise - it’s social (good for health), teaches sportsmanship and fair competition, helps children deal with disappointment in a positive and controlled way, and he’s with peers/friends instead of another hour with mum (which I am presuming he has opportunity to do other evenings).

Remaining healthy and enjoying exercise throughout life is hugely influenced by how you feel about it growing up. A healthy mind is vastly important as well all know for a healthy body, it gives you motivation and confidence if nothing else. Many things basically that can’t be established with an hour with just mum on a bike.

Of course - I'm just trying to say that sending a child to an activity and then spending that time wandering around a car park doing squats is a choice the same as not sending them to the activity and exercising as a family or at the park is also a choice

We don’t do enough preventative healthcare - by the time issues are picked up it’s too late. And no surprise women suffer worse than men, it’s been proved time and time again that some doctors ignore us!

I live in Italy but am from the UK. I've been living here for about a decade. I have noticed that processed food is consumed much less frequently here in Italy, and people have very structured meal times which they rarely deviate from. People here drink lots of water and now when I go back to the UK I notice the rows and rows of soft drinks which I just do not see here. People engage in a lot more outdoor activities and I think that the thought that you may be in your bikini every weekend for three months of the year is a motivator to catch amy weight gain before it escalates! This is just my experience of the region where I live but I know that when I go home to the UK I always gain weight and feel more sluggish because the food can be quite stogdy and it rains so much that its not possible to get out for a daily walk etc. People here don't seem to go out and get completely pissed the way I remember doing when I lived in the UK. I definitely feel much healthier since living here.