Health inequalities and life expectancy
There are huge variations in people’s health across Wirral. How and where a person lives can have a big influence on health. Did you know that for example, a boy born in Heswall is likely to live more than ten years longer than a boy born in Birkenhead?
We call this difference ‘health inequalities’. The term is used to describe the gap between the most healthy and least healthy people in the borough.
Although health continues to improve for the overall Wirral population, there are some groups where this hasn’t been the case. In some areas people are developing chronic health conditions much earlier than others.
The conditions that contribute most to reduced life expectancy and health inequalities in Wirral are heart, lung and circulatory disease, diabetes, liver disease and cancers.
Most of these conditions are related to lifestyle and are therefore preventable. By making healthy food choices, drinking alcohol sensibly, avoiding tobacco and being more active, we can all make steps to improve our health.
As well as making these choices, it is also important that the foundations of good health are in place to support us – foundations including accessible services, education and employment opportunities. We are working with our partners at Wirral Council and other local organisations to achieve this.
For more information on inequalities in Wirral please visit:
www.wirral.nhs.uk/yourhealth/healthinequalities.html
Healthier lives in Wirral
There are a huge number of activities, organisations and support groups in Wirral that can help you to lead a healthier life.
Please follow these links to other pages on our website for up-to-date information on staying healthy.
Health Challenge Wirral
www.wirral.nhs.uk/healthandwellbeing/
Health and Work and Wirral Working 4 Health
www.wirral.nhs.uk/yourhealth/healthandwork/
Going smoke free
www.wirral.nhs.uk/yourhealth/healthandwellbeing/goingsmokefree/
Healthy eating
www.wirral.nhs.uk/yourhealth/healthandwellbeing/healthyeating/
Other useful lifestyle links
www.wirral.nhs.uk/yourhealth/healthandwellbeing/useful_links.html
Personal testimonies - Julie, Gary and Alex
Julie, Gary and their 11-year-old son Alex are working together as a family to keep as healthy as possible, more than 
two years after completing specialist NHS programmes to help them improve their lifestyle.
Gary was introduced to a local NHS gym as part of his cardiac rehabilitation following a heart attack and now attends twice weekly.
Julie, who has diabetes, continues to eat healthily and take regular exercise, and their son, Alex, has gone from doing no physical activity and having a poor diet to walking, cycling, swimming and enjoying healthy food.
Alex was one of the first children to enrol on a 12-week lifestyle programme, a joint initiative with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. He was referred into the programme by a school nurse and was soon learning about portion sizes, identifying foods that were good for him and basic food preparation that could be replicated at home.