Bulging waistlines are partly to blame for England experiencing the biggest slowdown in life expectancy across Europe since 2011, experts say.

       A study found life expectancy for older people was still rising in many countries, suggesting we “have not yet reached a natural longevity ceiling”.

       But the food we eat, physical activity levels and the Covid pandemic’s impact are all thought to have played a role in a slowing of progress.

       Study leader Professor Nick Steel, from the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School, said: “Advances in public health and medicine in the 20th Century meant that life expectancy in Europe improved year after year. But this is no longer the case.

       “From 1990 to 2011, reductions in deaths from cardiovascular diseases and cancers continued to lead to substantial improvements in life expectancy. But decades of steady improvements finally slowed around 2011, with marked international differences.”

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       The study looked at life expectancy across 20 European countries, including England, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France and Germany.

       All countries showed annual improvements in life expectancy in 1990 to 2011, with an overall increase of an average of 0.23 years. The rate of improvement was lower in 2011–19 than in 1990–2011 in all countries except for Norway.

       From 1990 to 2011, life expectancy in England rose by an average of 0.25 years. This slowed to an average increase of 0.07 years in 2011 to 2019.

       Researchers said that England experienced the largest decline in life expectancy improvement during the period studied. They called for Government action to improve overall population health, including helping people have better diets and more exercise.

       Prof Steel added: “We’re not doing so well with heart disease and cancer. We have high dietary risks in England and high levels of physical inactivity and high obesity levels.

       “These trends are decades long – there isn’t a quick fix. And I guess the message to the current Government is, ‘Great that one of your big three shifts for the NHS is to move to prevention, but it needs to be more than … easy access to scanners and a well man check or well woman check with your already overloaded GP.

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       “This is about the big, long-term population protections from risk – so engaging with the food industry to improve our national diet to make it easier for people to eat healthier food and make it easier for people to move a little bit in our day-to-day lives.”

       Professor John Newton, from the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter, said the findings were a cause for concern, but also hope.

       He explained: “We should be concerned because many European countries including the UK are showing such poor progress but hopeful because addressing the underlying causes of major illnesses appears to be effective if only improvements in the key risks can be sustained.”

       Sarah Price, NHS England’s national director of public health, said: “This important study reinforces that prevention is the cornerstone of a healthier society, and is exactly why it will be such a key part of the 10 Year Health Plan which we are working with Government on.

       “The slowdown in life expectancy improvements, particularly due to cardiovascular disease and cancer, highlights the urgent need for stronger action on the root causes — poor diet, physical inactivity, and obesity.

       “The NHS is playing its part and has already helped hundreds of thousands of people to lose weight through our 12-week digital Weight Management Programme, while more than a million people a year receive a blood pressure check in NHS pharmacies which are key to identifying cardiovascular issues and significantly improving people’s overall health.

       “However, more can action is need across society because we cannot treat our way out of the obesity crisis, and we need to stem it at source.”

       The findings were published in The Lancet Public Health journal.

       Figures from the Office for National Statistics released last week show that about one in five girls born in the UK in 2030 is projected to live on average to at least 100 years old, rising to almost one in four by 2047.

       The projections are lower for boys, but still indicate a rise, with more than one in eight males born in 2030 living to celebrate their centenary, climbing to about one in six by 2047.