LIFE expectancy for men and women living in Ipswich is lower than that of people living in the rest of Suffolk, new figures have revealed.

LIFE expectancy for men and women living in Ipswich is lower than that of people living in the rest of Suffolk, new figures have revealed.

The data, obtained from the Department of Health, reveals significant disparities in the health of people living in the county.

A baby boy born in Ipswich between 2008-10 can expect to live 78.2 years, compared to a baby boy born in mid-Suffolk whose life expectancy is 80.7 years.

Similarly a baby girl born in Ipswich will, it is estimated, live to 82.5 years compared with a baby girl born in mid-Suffolk who is expected to live until 84.2 years.

Other areas included in the study are diabetes rates, obesity in children, early deaths from cancer and heart disease or strojke and skin cancer rates.

NHS Suffolk says many of the indicators - except significantly, skin cancer - are linked to levels of deprivation.

This view is supported by figures that show areas such as Ipswich and Waveney have the worst indicators for life expectancy and early death from heart disease or cancer.

But there are more surprising disparities from within Suffolk districts.

Tessa Lindfield, director of public health at NHS Suffolk, said the figures are more significant if you drill down to ward rather than district level.

She added: “We recognise these profiles as being hugely useful, because they give us a good summary of where we are compared with the rest of the country.

“They show us the health of Suffolk is pretty good but that we have differences between deprived and less deprived areas.”

She said there was a link between deprivation and health issues such as childhood obesity and early death from heart disease and stroke.