England’s health rating in comparison with other European countries remains about average, despite signs of progress in tackling heart disease and cancer, a report released yesterday by the Department of Health shows.

The greatest worries surround diseases caused by food and drink, including obesity, diabetes and liver disease, the Health Profile of England 2007 suggests.

Drink-related causes of death are rising in England while falling in the European Union as a whole. Premature deaths from cirrhosis of the liver in men and women in England were the lowest in the EU in 1970, but have since risen to almost the EU average in men, and above the average in women.

Given that cirrhosis takes years to develop, these trends are likely to continue for some time. Drinkers in Britain consume 11.37 litres of pure alcohol a head per year, against an average for the “old” EU of 15 countries (before the 2004 enlargement) of 11.24 litres.

There are also big differences across the country, with men in the North East and North West having a life expectancy of 2½ years less than those in the South East and South West.

The figures show a steady rise in the incidence of diabetes, from 3.3 per cent of men and 2.5 per cent of women in England in 1998 to 4.8 per cent of men and 3.6 per cent of women in 2003. Death rates from cancers and circulatory diseases are falling and the infant death rate is at its lowest level yet in England.

The conception rate for women under 20 remains high in Britain, at 7.1 per cent of all births, the highest of the 15 EU countries. Denmark is the lowest, at 1.3 per cent. Again, these rates vary across the country, with the under-18 conception rate highest in the North East, at 51.2 per 1,000 girls compared with 33.6 per 1,000 in the East of England and the South East. The number of binge-drinking adults is also highest in the North East, at 25.1 per cent, compared with 15.4 per cent in London. The rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions is almost 2½ times higher in the North West than in the East of England. Diets remain deficient, with people in Britain eating an average of 207.40kg of fruit and vegetables each per year compared with an EU average of 232.47kg.

Dawn Primarolo, the Public Health Minister, said: “There is still a lot to do. I am determined to move further and faster to respond to all these challenges, with a cross-government drive to tackle obesity, improve diet and activity levels and promote safe and sensible drinking. We are improving much faster in areas such as circulatory disease and cancer than the European average.”

Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: “Tackling both type 1 and type 2 diabetes must be a priority for the Government. There are now 2.2 million people in the UK living with the condition and up to a further 750,000 who have type 2 diabetes but don’t know it, all of whom are potentially facing years of ill-health and reduced life expectancy.”

Explore Health

• Expert Advice

• Health Features

• Mental Health

• Alternative Medicine

• Child Health

• Health Club