Town life expectancy 'two years less than the national average'

The report, written by NHS Barnsley's director of public health, Elizabeth Shassere, has revealed that the main reason for the gap is the higher than average levels of smoking, drinking and obesity in the town, where almost 30 per cent of all adults and 25 per cent of pregnant women smoke.

Women in Barnsley live to an average of 80.1 years, which is 2.2 years less than the national average, while life expectancy for men is 76.4 years – 1.9 years less than average. This gap has increased "considerably" since the early 1990s, when there was a gap of just 1.2 years between Barnsley's figures for women and the national average, and a gap of 1.3 years for men.

Ms Shassere said: "I looked back to 1993 in Barnsley and the gap in life expectancy between Barnsley and England has since widened, despite our ever increasing knowledge of inequalities and the key determinants of health, and the improvements in science and technology.

"For women, that life expectancy gap has widened by nearly one year. For men, it has widened by half a year.

"This to me is a shocking truth that is unacceptable in our modern society."

She added: "While the rest of England continues to outpace us, and the gap continues to widen between Barnsley and the rest of the country, we have cause to celebrate some success.

"NHS Barnsley and Barnsley Council have made real progress by targeting regeneration, service improvements and support for healthy lifestyles into the most disadvantaged communities.

"Through these actions we've been able to reduce the inequalities experienced between different areas locally and made tremendous progress in improving life expectancy, particularly around heart disease.

"Our goal now is to continue to support healthy lifestyles across Barnsley and reduce inequalities."

The report says that the largest contributors to Barnsley's gap in life expectancy compared to the rest of England are cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory diseases.

All of these conditions are influenced by smoking, which contributes to an estimated 50 per cent of the life expectancy gap.

Ms Shassere said: "There are many reasons why Barnsley has lower levels of health than other areas of the country.

"A long history of mining industry, high rates of unemployment and high levels of deprivation have all impacted on health negatively.

"We are working to support people in Barnsley to improve their health across those areas considered to be key challenges such as alcohol, healthy weight, mental wellbeing and particularly smoking."

A survey carried out this year found that 21 per cent of boys and 17 per cent of girls in year 10 at Barnsley schools are regular smokers.

In terms of alcohol, Barnsley is also "significantly" worse than the national average. Of 352 local authorities, Barnsley ranks 304 - where 352 is the worst – based on an estimate of adults who drink at least twice the daily recommended amounts of alcohol in a single session.

More than 28 per cent of adults in Barnsley are obese, compared with a national and regional average of 24 per cent. By 2015, it is estimated that diseases related to obesity will cost NHS Barnsley just over 80m each year.

Ms Shassere said: "There are clearly some significant challenges for us in Barnsley if we are committed to improving life expectancy for all and reducing inequalities.

"The importance of this of course is not hitting targets but ensuring our population has a long life of good health, to which we should all be equally entitled.