George Skiverton and Seishi Yoda have much in common. Both men are in their mid-60s, both enjoy the occasional glass of beer and both are devoted to their families. Yet, if the statistics are to be believed, only one of them is likely to enjoy a long, happy and healthy old age.

Skiverton lives in the Calton area of Glasgow, and Yoda’s home is in Yokohama, Japan. As a result, the two men’s life expectancies are a world apart.

New statistics published last week show Scotland and Japan at opposite ends of the mortality league table. The average Glaswegian man can expect to live to just over 69, compared with 79 for his counterpart in the Far East.

Coming from Calton, one of Glasgow’s most deprived inner-city areas, Skiverton’s prospects are even more bleak. In his neighbourhood, life expectancy is just 54 — the lowest in Britain.

At 66, he has already defied the odds by a considerable way, but the inescapable reality for the retired plumber is that someone of his age in that area is living on borrowed time.

Skiverton is plagued by angina and has breathing difficulties. His ill health forced him to give up work in his early forties and these days he struggles to move far from the home he shares with his wife.

On the other side of the world Yoda, who should have retired from his job as a club manager four years ago, is not planning to give up work just yet. A member of a country club near his home, he regularly plays bowls to relax and as a form of exercise.

“I have an extra incentive to stay healthy now because my wife had a baby daughter three months ago and I want to be fit and stay young so I can see her grow up,” he says with obvious pride.

“My wife is only 39 and she tells me that she wants more children — I would very much like a son too.”

Fathering a child at the age of 64 is not unusual in the land of the rising sun, where men on average live to 79. Yoda hopes to live a lot longer than that.

A glance at the food that is consumed in a typical day in Calton and in Yokohama goes a long way to explaining how far the Scots have to go. Yoda’s diet exemplifies the traditional Japanese approach to food that is said to be one of the secrets of the nation’s good health.

“Every morning, I eat rice with natto (a sticky, fermented soya bean) and a bowl of miso soup with seaweed. Then I always have a yoghurt,” he says. “That has been my usual breakfast for many years now.”

Lunch is sushi of some kind, and Yoda usually eats out in the evenings, enjoying the Japanese cuisine that is traditionally low in fat, with a glass of rice wine.

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