The British Government is being urged to launch an inquiry into why life expectancy rates in Britain have stalled in comparison to other European nations.
Sir Michael Marmot, the author of a government-ordered report on health inequality, says the country risks becoming the "sick man and woman of Europe".
He compared progress in Britain to that of other European nations, many of which have longer life expectancies.
His analysis found that according to the EU statistics body Eurostat, the gap is getting wider, with growth in female life expectancy at birth the worst in Europe and male growth the second worst.
Sir Michael, director of the Institute of Health Equity at University College London, wrote in the Times: "Were this to keep up, we would soon become the sick man and woman of Europe. This is a new and worrying trend."
In Britain, the female life expectancy at birth is 83, below the EU average, while for men it is slightly above the average at 79.
