Ill health
Key points
- On most measures of ill health among children, both Inner and Outer London are little or no different from the rest of the country. However, the rate of underage pregnancy in Inner London is 50% higher than the England average.
- On most measures of ill health among working-age adults, London differs little from the England average. The proportion of adults with a limiting long-term illness is close to the national average, as is the proportion of adults at risk of mental illness. The proportion of adults in London who are obese is lower than the England average.
- The proportion of the male population in Inner London who die before the age of 65 exceeds that in any other English region and is 20% higher than the England average. By contrast, the female rate is only slightly above average. Both male and female rates in Outer London are about the same as the England average.
- Within London, health outcomes are by far the poorest in the Inner East & South. For example, the rate of premature death is highest in Tower Hamlets, Newham, Lambeth and Hackney. Three of the four boroughs with the highest rates of infant mortality are in the Inner East & South, as are three of the four boroughs with the highest rates of limiting illness.
Find out more about Ill health by visiting the indicators in this section, listed on the right.
The relationship between poverty and health
Statistics show that, at the national level, health problems are somewhat more likely to affect those with low incomes (or from manual social classes) than those with average or above-average incomes (or from non-manual social classes). To illustrate this point, across England as a whole:
- Infant deaths (deaths before the age of 12 months) are 50% more common in families from manual social backgrounds as families from non-manual social backgrounds.
- People in the poorest fifth of incomes are far more likely to be at risk of a mental health problem than those in the richest fifth (22% – 7% for men, 24% – 12% for women).
- Two-fifths of adults aged 45 to 64 with below-average incomes have a limiting long-term illness, more than twice the rate for adults of the same age with above-average incomes.
- Death rates for cancer and heart disease, the two biggest causes of death for under 65s, are about twice as high for people from manual rather than non-manual backgrounds.
On average, then, ill health is an additional burden on people already coping with low incomes.
Data used
ONS (2008) Childhood, infant and perinatal mortality statistics, series DH3 No. 29–38
DoH (2004–06) Health Survey for England
ONS (2004–06) General Household Survey
ONS (1997–09) Health Statistics Quarterly
Relevant Indicators
Glossary
Inner London:
Camden, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Lambeth, Lewisham, Newham, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Westminster
Outer London:
Barking & Dagenham, Barnet, Bromley, Bexley, Brent, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, Waltham Forest
Limiting long-standing or long-term illness:
Illnesses which last longer than a year, are usually degenerative, and cause limitations to physical, mental and/or social well-being
Infant mortality:
Death occurring before twelve months