Summary: According to a recent research, Europe’s overall life expectancy has decreased significantly since 2011. Key factors include rising fat, bad food, and physical inactivity, along with the effects of the COVID-19 crisis. Deaths from vascular diseases were a significant factor in this drop, especially in the UK.
Countries with strong public health policies, such as Norway and Sweden, maintained better existence duration changes. The results suggest that drastic state interventions and lifestyle modifications are necessary to reverse this trend. Without action, younger years does not live as long as their forebears.
Important Facts:
- Effects of Cardiovascular Diseases: A significant contributor to slower life expectancy growth since 2011.
- Health Risks Rising: Fat, poor diet, and natural inaction are increasing across Europe.
- Policy Matters: Countries with stronger health plans showed better endurance.
Origin: University of East Anglia
According to research from the University of East Anglia and companions, the rise in human life expectancy has slowed down in Europe since 2011.
A new study, published now in , The Lancet Public Health, reveals that the food we eat, natural inactivity and obesity are largely to blame, as well as the Covid pandemic.
Of all the nations studied, England experienced the biggest decline in life duration.
We might find that we are dying faster than our parents or grandparents who look forward to living long.
The team believes that governments should prioritize promoting healthier lifestyles in our younger years in order to extend our age, with governments being urged to support strong public health initiatives.
Direct scholar Prof Nick Steel, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said:” Advances in public health and medicine in the 20th , Century meant that life expectancy in Europe improved year after year. However, this is no longer the case.
” Decreases in deaths from cardiovascular diseases and tumors continued to lead to significant changes in life expectancy between 1990 and 2011.
” But years of consistent improvements finally slowed about 2011 as a result of significant international differences.
We discovered that the decline in life expectancy between 2011 and 2011 was primarily due to the deaths from cardiovascular disorders. Unsurprisingly, the Covid crisis was liable for decreases in living duration seen between 2019–21.
” Almost all states ‘ big challenges, including obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, increased or stopped improving after 2011″
Better cholesterol and blood pressure therapies are insufficient to offset the negative effects of obesity and poor nutrition, he continued.
Drawing on the work of nearly 12, 000 collaborators across more than 160 countries and territories, the research team analyzed data from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation ( IHME)’s ( Global Burden of Disease 2021 ), the largest and most comprehensive research to quantify health loss across locations and over time.
They compared changes in life duration, causes of death, and people exposure to risk factors across Europe between 1990–2011, 2011–19, and 2019–21.
Countries studied included Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
The group say that despite the decline, we nevertheless haven’t reached a natural sky for longevity.
According to Prof. Steel,” Life expectancy for older people in many countries is also improving, showing that we have never yet reached a healthy endurance roof.”
Life expectancy primarily reflects deaths at younger ages, where there is a lot of potential to lower dangerous risks and stop premature deaths.
Comparing nations, national policies that expanded community health were linked to better resilience to unexpected surprises.
” States like Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and Belgium held onto better life expectancy after 2011, and saw reduced damages from big risks for brain disorder, helped by state guidelines.
” In distinction, England and the other British countries fared worst after 2011 and also during the Covid crisis, and experienced some of the highest risks for heart disease and cancer, including poor nutrition.  ,
This suggests that stronger government measures are required to address major health risks, such as obesity, poor diet, and low physical activity, in order to improve population health over the long term.
These results are a source of concern, especially here in the UK, but there is also some hope, according to Prof. John Newton from the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter. We should be concerned because many European nations, including the UK, are making such scant progress, but optimistic because it appears as though addressing the root causes of major illnesses can only lead to improvements in the key risks.
Sarah Price, NHS England, National Director , of , Public , Health, said:  ” ,This important study reinforces that prevention is the cornerstone , of , a , healthier society, and is exactly why it will be such a key part , of , the 10 Year , Health , Plan which we are working with Government on.  ,
” The slowdown in life expectancy improvements, particularly due to cardiovascular disease and cancer, highlights the urgent need for stronger action on the root causes — poor diet, physical inactivity, and obesity.
” The NHS is playing its part and has already helped hundreds , of , thousands , of , people to lose weight through our 12-week digital Weight Management Programme, while more than a million people a year receive a blood , pressure check in NHS pharmacies which are key to identifying cardiovascular issues and significantly improving people’s overall , health.
” However, more can action is need across society because we cannot treat our way out , of , the obesity crisis, and we need to stem it at source”.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, the University of Exeter, the Department of Health and Social Care, among others, collaborated with UEA to develop this study.
The authors ‘ opinions expressed in this publication are those of the publication, not necessarily those of the UK Department of Health and Social Care.
About this news from research into health and longevity
Author: Lisa Horton
Source: University of East Anglia
Contact: Lisa Horton – University of East Anglia
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
Nick Steel et al.,” Changing life expectancy in European countries 1990-2021: a sub analysis of causes and risk factors from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021,”” Changing life expectancy in 1990-2021: a sub analysis of causes and risk factors. Lancet Public Health
Abstract
The Global Burden of Disease Study 2021: a subanalysis of causes and risk factors. Changing life expectancy in European countries 1990–2021
Background
Decades of steady improvements in life expectancy in Europe slowed down from around 2011, well before the COVID-19 pandemic, for reasons which remain disputed. We wanted to know how changes in the risk factors and cause-specific death rates in various European nations affected changes in life expectancy both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
We used data and methods from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021 to compare changes in life expectancy at birth, causes of death, and population exposure to risk factors in 16 European Economic Area countries ( Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden ) and the four UK nations ( England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales ) for three time periods: 1990–2011, 2011–19, and 2019–21.
Using an established life expectancy cause-specific decomposition method, changes in life expectancy and causes of death were estimated, and risk factors ‘ summary exposure values for the main causes of death, which have an impact on life expectancy, were used to compare.
Findings
All countries showed mean annual improvements in life expectancy in both 1990–2011 ( overall mean 0·23 years]95 % uncertainty interval]UI] 0·23 to 0·24] ) and 2011–19 ( overall mean 0·15 years]0·13 to 0·16] ).
The rate of improvement was lower in 2011–19 than in 1990–2011 in all countries except for Norway, where the mean annual increase in life expectancy rose from 0·21 years (95 % UI 0·20 to 0·22 ) in 1990–2011 to 0·23 years ( 0·21 to 0·26 ) in 2011–19 ( difference of 0·03 years ).
In other countries, the difference in mean annual improvement between these periods ranged from –0·01 years in Iceland ( 0·19 years]95 % UI 0·16 to 0·21]  , vs , 0·18 years]0·09 to 0·26] ), to –0·18 years in England ( 0·25 years]0·24 to 0·25 ]  , vs , 0·07 years]0·06 to 0·08] ). In 2019–21, there was an overall decrease in mean annual life expectancy across all countries ( overall mean –0·18 years]95 % UI –0·22 to –0·13] ), with all countries having an absolute fall in life expectancy except for Ireland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, which showed marginal improvement in life expectancy, and Belgium, which showed no change in life expectancy.
Cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms were the causes of the greatest increases in life expectancy across the world between 1990 and 2011. Deaths from cardiovascular diseases were the main causes of the declines in life expectancy in 2011–19, while deaths from respiratory infections and other COVID-19 pandemic-related outcomes were the main causes of the declines in life expectancy in 2019–21.
Deaths from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms in 2019 were attributable to high systolic blood pressure, dietary risks, tobacco smoke, high LDL cholesterol, high BMI, occupational risks, high alcohol use, and other risks including low physical activity.
Exposure to these major risk factors varied by country, with trends indicating that all nations experienced increased exposure to high BMI and decreased exposure to tobacco smoke between 1990 and 2021.
Interpretation
The countries that best maintained improvements in life expectancy after 2011 ( Norway, Iceland, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden ) did so through better maintenance of reductions in mortality from cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, underpinned by decreased exposures to major risks, possibly mitigated by government policies.
The five countries ‘ continued increases in life expectancy between 2019 and 2019 indicate that these nations were better equipped to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, the nations that saw the slowest decline in life expectancy after 2011 continued to experience some of the worst declines in life expectancy in 2019 to 2021.
These findings suggest that government initiatives that improve public health also strengthen resilience to unexpected shocks. These policies include addressing the commercial factors that contribute to poor health, including reducing population exposure to significant upstream risks for cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, as well as preventing access to affordable health care.
Funding
Gates Foundation.
