CHILDREN born between 2017-2019 in West Dunbartonshire have the fourth worst life expectancy rate in the country, new figures from National Records of Scotland have revealed.

Average life expectancy at birth in Scotland has been confirmed as 77.1 years for men and 81.1 years for women for those born between 2017 and 2019.

In West Dunbartonshire alone, men are expected to live until 75 while women are expected to live for 79.2 years, the fourth lowest life expectancy in Scotland behind Inverclyde, Glasgow and Dundee.

Scotland has the lowest life expectancy in western Europe according to the figures, with levels of deprivation across each council area being blamed.

And Dumbarton and the Vale is home to some of the most deprived areas in Scotland according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation report published in February of this year.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot, director of the University College London Institute of Health Equity has called for a review of the causes of health inequalities in Scotland similar to the one completed in England earlier this year.

He said: “These latest figures from Scotland are deeply regrettable but not surprising. Scotland has consistently had lower life expectancy than England, and improvements in life expectancy in the whole of the UK slowed dramatically starting in 2010/11.

"The relationship between deprivation and poor health, seen in these latest Scottish figures, are very similar to those we see in England; the causes are likely to be similar.

"We showed that the relationship between deprivation and short life expectancy is stronger in the north of England than it is in London and the South.

"Extrapolating, with caution, it would not be surprising to find that living in deprived areas was worse for your health in parts of Glasgow than it is in London."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Life expectancy in Scotland had been increasing in recent decades but has remained virtually unchanged since 2012-2014.

“Our Programme for Government published earlier this month includes commitments to improve life expectancy and to tackle health inequalities. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shown clearly that pre-existing health inequalities have led to a significantly poorer outcome for particular groups of people. We are now putting actions in place to protect the most vulnerable and these actions will also help reduce future health inequalities.

“This work to help people live longer, healthier lives are supported by our investment in measures such as affordable housing, free prescriptions, free personal care and providing free school meals."