Baby girls born into West Dunbartonshire will live shorter lives than any others in Scotland, according to shocking new statistics.
Women in the region have an average life expectancy of 78.7 — the lowest in the country — and almost five years less than our neighbour East Dunbartonshire.
The shaming National Records of Scotland figures also reveal that the life expectancy of men is the second worst in the country — just behind Glasgow — with an average of 74.8.
The grim figures come just weeks after the Lennox Herald revealed that one in four children in West Dunbartonshire are living in poverty.
Local politicians expressed their dismay at the bleak End Child Poverty coalition report last month, which told how 26.5 percent of youngsters in the region are living below the breadline.
READ MORE: One in four children in West Dunbartonshire living in poverty
This week a leading child poverty expert told the Lennox Herald that authorities must protect services for vulnerable people if the worrying trend is to be reversed.
He also said investment in the local area is needed to improve lives and prospects.
Professor John McKendrick, senior lecturer at Caledonian University, said poverty is a main driver in the life expectancy figures.
He said: “If we look at the figures across the country, we can see there’s a reflection between the levels of poverty associated with the area and life expectancy.
“However, there is an argument that there is more to it than just poverty too.
“West Dunbartonshire is a former industrial town which is still reeling from the collapse of its industry and has not totally recovered.
“There’s no quick solution to that but there are measures that can be done to improve people’s lifestyles.
“There are legacy issues surrounding the way people used to live repeating through the generations to the way people live now.
“For example, many men would have followed a diet which would have been appropriate for when they were employed as heavy labourers
“It might be that generations are not replacing that lifestyle with the needs of the more contemporary ways of living.
“However, when we talk about lifestyle and culture, there is a risk of blaming people for the circumstances they find themselves in, which is not necessarily the case. There is more to it than that.”
The academic said it was also important to note that men and women in West Dunbartonshire can expect to live longer than those before them, adding that the stats were going in the right direction.
He went on: “Interestingly, life expectancy for men in West Dunbartonshire has seen a bigger improvement than the Scottish average.
“Women have traditionally always had a longer life expectancy by men — currently by four years in Scotland — but that gap is closing and we are seeing that particularly in West Dunbartonshire.
“It could be because the way in which men and women live their lives is much less different than it was in the past.”
The figures — based on deaths and population data between 2013 and 2015 — show that men in the region live 5.6 years longer than they did 12 years ago — bucking the average of 4.9.
This can be compared to women who live on average 1.7 years longer than they did 12 years ago.
Commenting on the paper, chief executive of National Records of Scotland and Registrar General for Scotland Tim Ellis said: “This report shows that while life expectancy continues to improve, there is still wide variation across Scotland.
“The report also shows that the gap between life expectancy for men and for women is continuing to narrow.
“Life expectancy for men is highest in East Dunbartonshire and lowest in Glasgow City, while for women it is highest in East Dunbartonshire and lowest in West Dunbartonshire.”
Professor McKendrick said it was encouraging that work is being done at both national and local government levels to help turn around the fortunes of struggling towns.
He also noted the Glasgow City Region Deal, which West Dunbartonshire is part of, with aims to fund major infrastructure projects, create thousands of new jobs and assist thousands of unemployed people back to work, improve public transport and connectivity, drive business innovation and growth and generate billions of pounds of private sector investment.
He said investment in towns and cities was an important way of improving people’s quality of life, adding: “The Glasgow City Deal is a really interesting project which it is hoped will do a great amount of good to the city, including West Dunbartonshire.
“It is important West Dunbartonshire gets its fair share and it might be that it requires a bigger share of the pot due to indicators like this.
“There is work underway and the Scottish Government is moving a child poverty bill. In the long term, we would expect these things to make a difference.
“It is also important that local authorities utilise resources most effectively to protect the vulnerable. When it comes to cuts, they have to make the right choices — and that is very tough.”
The figures quoted in this publication are a three year average. They are produced by aggregating deaths and population data for the three year period.
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