ENGLAND — The Health Foundation reported that healthy life expectancy in England fell by approximately two years between 2012-14 and 2022-24, and called on ministers to adopt measures including minimum unit pricing of alcohol and restrictions on junk food advertising. The thinktank found the UK was one of only five countries where healthy life expectancy declined over the period, while it rose by an average of 0.4 years across 20 other comparable nations.

Healthy life expectancy for men in the UK fell from 62.9 years in 2012-14 to 60.7 years in 2022-24, while for women it fell from 63.7 years to 60.9 years. The proportion of life a man spends in good health dropped from 79% to 77%, and for women from 77% to 73%. In more than 90% of the UK, people now begin suffering from illness before the state pension age of 66.

The UK fell from 14th to 20th place in a 21-nation league table of healthy life expectancy, with only the United States ranked below it.

"These findings reveal a stark truth – the UK's health is going backwards," said Dr Jennifer Dixon, chief executive of the Health Foundation. "The lights on the dashboard are flashing red. We are the most obese country in western Europe, mental ill health has surged to unprecedented levels and more people than ever before are living with chronic health conditions."

A record 2.8 million people in the UK are too sick to work, deaths are rising among 25- to 49-year-olds, and growing numbers of 16- to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training because of a physical or mental health condition. The thinktank stated that obesity is leading to more cases of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer, and that high numbers of deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide help explain the loss of two years of illness-free life. It said health inequalities between rich and poor are key factors in the decline.

Regional disparities were wide. The average man in Richmond upon Thames, London, has 69.3 years of healthy life expectancy and the average woman 70.3 years, compared with 50.9 years for the average man in Blackpool and 51.2 years for the average woman in Hartlepool.

The Health Foundation called for England to introduce minimum unit pricing of alcohol, as Scotland has done, for ministers to force food firms to make their products healthier, and for action to tackle drug-related harm. Labour's manifesto pledged to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the tobacco and vapes bill will receive royal assent shortly and that a ban on advertising junk food before 9pm on television will be introduced. "It is a disgrace that as a nation we became unhealthier over the last decade which is why we are committed to tackling health inequalities and building a healthier Britain," the spokesperson said. "The government is already delivering radical measures such as a generational ban on smoking and clamping down on junk food advertising targeted at kids to help parents raise the healthiest generation of children ever. We know there is much more to do, but by building an NHS fit for the future, we will help people live well for longer, whatever their background."