The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- John Furner
Britons in their thirties and forties are healthier than their American counterparts but are more likely to believe they are in poorer health, a new study suggests.
Rates of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are lower in the UK for the age group, according to research, but everyday smoking is higher.
Despite this, UK adults are gloomier overall about their health when compared with those across the pond.
Experts said bigger health inequalities in the US should ‘act as a warning’ over what Britain could be like without the ‘safety net’ of the NHS.
Researchers from University College London (UCL), University of Oxford, Syracuse University and University of North Carolina analysed data on 9,665 British people born in 1970 and 5,381 US adults.
Rates of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are lower in the UK for the age group, according to research, but everyday smoking is higher
Experts said bigger health inequalities in the US should ‘act as a warning’ over what Britain could be like without the ‘safety net’ of the NHS
Rates of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are lower in the UK for the age group, according to research , but everyday smoking is higher
Nurses measured blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI and whether blood sugar levels indicated diabetes.
Study participants reported on how good they thought their health was and how regularly they smoked cigarettes.
It found those in the US were more likely to have high cholesterol and high blood pressure, with four in 10 US adults were obese compared to 34.5 per cent of Brits.
Yet, 18 per cent of British adults were likely to report their health as poor compared to 12 per cent of adults in the US, according to the findings published in in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
Britons were also more likely to smoke every day, with 28 per cent in this age group reporting cigarette use compared to 21 per cent in the US group.
Lead author, Dr Charis Bridger Staatz, of the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies, said: ‘While we were unable to directly investigate the causes of this, we can speculate that differences in levels of exercise, diets and poverty, and limited access to free healthcare may be driving worse physical health in the USA.’
US adults were more likely to have high blood pressure at 22.5 versus 19 per cent in the UK and high cholesterol, was 11 and 8 per cent
He added: ‘Given political and social similarities between the US and Britain, the US acts as a warning of what the state of health could be like in Britain without the safety net of the NHS and a strong welfare system.’
They found US adults were more likely to have high blood pressure at 22.5 versus 19 per cent in the UK and high cholesterol, was 11 and 8 per cent.
Health inequalities were also higher in the US with disadvantaged adults around eight times more likely to have diabetes than the richest and were seven times more likely to smoke.
In Britain, the poorest adults were twice as likely for both diabetes and smoking. Wider inequalities were also found in the US for obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Professor George Ploubidis, of UCL, said: ‘In some ways, these findings could be seen to paint a positive picture for the nation, as the health of adults in Britain is better than that in the USA.
‘Nevertheless, this research should not distract us from the fact that more than a third of British adults are obese and a fifth have high blood pressure in midlife.
‘The new government’s pledges to cut NHS waiting times will be severely tested if this and future generations continue to age in poor health.’
