Healthy years: how many might you have left using a postcode calculator

ONS data and health research show healthy life expectancy varies sharply by area, and scientists say an equation using sex, age and postcode can estimate years a person may expect to live in good health.

Officials and researchers are raising questions about healthy life expectancy as obesity rates and long-term illness have risen in Britain. Scientists say an equation can predict healthy life expectancy using sex, age and postcode, and a news outlet has replicated that equation as a public calculator. The discussion draws on Office for National Statistics analysis showing large gaps in years spent in good health between wealthier and more deprived areas. Known details: - Nearly two-thirds of adults in England are now overweight or obese, and about one in four people lives with a long-term health condition. - Researchers report an equation that uses a person’s sex, age and postcode to estimate healthy life expectancy, and the article reproduces this as a calculator. - ONS figures show women in the most deprived areas typically have about 50.5 years of good health, roughly 20.2 years fewer than women in the wealthiest areas; the article gives Barnsley (about 52 years 8 months) and Wokingham (about 70 years 10 months) as examples. - For men, those born in the most deprived neighbourhoods could expect about 51 years of good health, around 19 years fewer than men in the most affluent areas. - The ONS found that over the past decade poorer men and women are living five and seven months longer in poor health, respectively, than they did ten years earlier. Summary: The reporting highlights wide regional inequalities in how many years people can expect to live in good health, alongside rising rates of obesity and long-term illness. Undetermined at this time.