Babies born in wealthy parts of London ‘live 12 years longer than in Glasgow’

Parts of Glasgow have the lowest life expectancies in the UK

Babies born in the UK’s richest areas are likely to live 12 years longer than those from Glasgow.

Upmarket Hampstead in north London has a life expectancy of 88, while people raised in Glasgow will live to 76, a report found.

Campaign group Health Equals said millions of lives were being cut short by more than a decade due to poor living conditions, substandard education and poverty.

The most startling disparity was found between London and Scotland. Fifteen of the highest life expectancies were found in the South East.

Meanwhile, 17 of the 20 lowest life expectancies were in Scotland, The Times reports. Glasgow’s seven constituencies took up the bottom seven areas.

There was also a stark difference between the North and South of England. Blackpool South had England’s lowest life expectancy (78), followed by Bradford West (79).

The report found these regional disparities were ‘entirely preventable’ and only getting worse, as the life expectancy gap has grown by two years over two decades.

Health Equals said a baby’s place of birth can be more detrimental than ‘individual behaviour and genetics’.

Babies born in Hampstead have the highest life expectancy (Picture: Shutterstock)

They have urged the Government to prioritise fixing the life expectancy gap by implementing more green spaces, better transport links and adequate housing.

Carrie Hume, the head of Health Equals, said: ‘Our members are diverse but carry the same message: The size of the UK’s life-expectancy gap is entirely preventable, but not enough attention is paid to how our health is shaped by our interactions with the world around us. 

‘We’re calling on politicians to take action, doing more to understand what shapes our health and creating plans to improve our opportunities for good health.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

A baby’s place of birth can be ‘more detrimental than individual behaviour and genetics’.