THE GAP in life expectancy between men and women in Ireland is narrowing. On average, women are living longer than men – 81.6 years compared with 76.8 years, latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show.
However, the difference in life expectancy between men and women has narrowed over the past 20 years by about one year.
Experts say increased numbers of men quitting smoking and taking better care of their hearts are likely to be responsible for a narrowing in the age gap. Overall, life expectancy has risen by about 20 years for men and 24 years for women in the past 80 years.
In the 1920s, for example, men in Ireland had a life expectancy of about 57 compared with 58 for women. One of the biggest factors behind the increase has been improved infant mortality rates, according to the CSO.
In more recent times, life expectancy at birth for men increased by 1.7 years to 76.8 years and by 1.3 years to 81.6 years for women in the four years between 2002 and 2006. The gap between male and female life expectancy has fallen from a peak of 5.7 years in 1986 to 4.8 years in 2006.
Owen Metcalfe, associate director of the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, said he was not surprised to see the gap narrowing. “I think there’s an increased awareness among men that they haven’t been taking care of their health and they’re becoming better at taking care of themselves,” he said. “We still have a long way to go. There is still the problem of men being reluctant to present to health services and they typically leave it to the last minute. That said, the overall picture is encouraging.”
According to the CSO, life expectancy has increased across all regions. Men are living longer in the mid-east and midlands areas (77.2 years on average), while life expectancy for women is longest in the west (82.7 years). The shortest life expectancy is in the midwest region at 76.3 years for males and 80.4 years for females.
Official figures show the largest improvements in life expectancy between 2002 and 2006 were recorded in the midlands for males (a gain of 2.4 years) and in the west for females (1.8 years).
While life expectancy is on the increase, Ireland still lags behind most of Europe. In 2006, Irish male life expectancy ranked in joint 12th place with Luxembourg, while Irish female life expectancy ranked 16th among EU member states.
The highest life expectancy at birth among EU member states was in Sweden and Cyprus for males (78.8 years), while for females Spain and France were highest (84.4 years). The life expectancy gap between men and women is common to all EU countries. The largest gap is in Lithuania (11.7 years) and the smallest gap in Cyprus (3.6 years).
However, Dr Jane Wilde, chief executive of the Institute of Public Health in Ireland, warned that rising cases of obesity could stop the rise in life expectancy. “There is a chance that we could be the first generation not to see this increase in life expectancy. It’s something we should be really worried about. Yet it’s something we can tackle,” she said.