PEOPLE living in St Albans are generally in better health than the average for England according to a new snapshot of the district. The Health Profile for St Albans 2009 paints a bright picture of health on the whole although it admits that there are ineq

PEOPLE living in St Albans are generally in better health than the average for England according to a new snapshot of the district.

The Health Profile for St Albans 2009 paints a bright picture of health on the whole although it admits that there are inequalities by location, gender, deprivation and ethnicity.

There are also significantly higher road injuries and deaths than elsewhere in England - but that has been a consistent theme for several years and is generally put down to the number of motorways passing through the district.

The report, produced annually by the Association of Public Health Observatories, found that over the past decade rates of death from all causes and early deaths from cancer, heart disease and stroke in St Albans had improved and were better than the England average.

Last year's report highlighted a significant amount of obesity in reception age children but that has now improved to the extent that it is better than the England average. Physical activity in schoolchildren is also better than the average.

In several areas the district is close to the England average - notably smoking in pregnancy which almost one is seven local women were found to do, physically active adults, hip fracture in the over 65s and excess winter deaths.

Men from the least deprived areas in St Albans can expect to live nearly eight years longer than those from the more deprived areas while for women, the difference is nearly six years.