How long people can expect to stay healthy in Ealing varies by as much as 15 years depending on where they live across the borough’s seven towns, new Office for National Statistics figures reveal.
Women living in Bedford Park (Southfield ward) are estimated to enjoy the longest healthy lives in the borough at 76.2 years, while those in Norwood Green North and Windmill Park can expect 61.2 healthy years – a difference of 15 years. For men, Northfields tops the rankings at 71.9 healthy years, compared with 60.9 years in Northolt South, a gap of 11 years.
The new estimates, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), provide an area-by-area picture of healthy life expectancy across Ealing, revealing wide differences across the borough.
Across the borough as a whole, healthy life expectancy is estimated at 65.7 years for men and 66.7 years for women. Compared with neighbouring boroughs, Ealing’s figures are higher than Brent (65.0 years for men and 66.1 years for women) and Hounslow (65.6 and 66.3 years), but lower than Hillingdon (66.2 and 67.4 years), Hammersmith & Fulham (65.4 and 67.8 years) and Harrow (68.0 and 68.7 years).
Healthy life expectancy is not the same as overall life expectancy. It estimates the total number of years people can expect to live in good health over their lifetime. Those years are not necessarily continuous and may be interspersed with periods of poorer health. Overall life expectancy in Ealing is around 79.5 years for men and 84.3 years for women.
Greg Ceely, head of population life events at the Office for National Statistics, told EALING.NEWS: “These figures show how the number of years someone can expect to live in good health can differ even between neighbouring communities. By using data from the census, we can produce these estimates for small local areas, giving a more detailed picture of health for local communities.”
The estimates show how long a baby born today could expect to live in good health if today’s patterns of health in each Ealing neighbourhood remained the same throughout their lifetime. The ONS says they do not assume someone stays in the same neighbourhood, take account of future improvements in healthcare, or predict how long any individual resident will live.
For men, the five highest estimates were Northfields (71.9 years), Bedford Park (70.7), Horsenden (70.4), Pitshanger (70.4) and North Ealing (70.3). The lowest were Northolt South (60.9), Norwood Green North and Windmill Park (61.1), Southall Green West (61.8), Norwood Green South (62.1) and Cuckoo Park (62.1).
For women, Bedford Park (76.2 years) topped the rankings, followed by Northfields (72.5), Elthorne Park (72.2), Pitshanger (71.8) and South Ealing (71.6). The lowest estimates were Norwood Green North and Windmill Park (61.2), Norwood Green South (61.5), Northolt South (61.7), Southall West (61.8) and Southall North (62.5).
