There is now a 20-year gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least advantaged groups in the UK, according to a researcher who has spent decades studying health equity. Jennie Popay, professor of sociology and public health at Lancaster University, expressed irritation at a recent Guardian article that she says perpetuates the misleading trope of personal responsibility for poor health.
The article in question covered the Oxford Longevity Project’s study, which suggested that at least 80% of responsibility for ill health in old age lies with the individual. Popay argues that this gives the impression that the main cause of poor health and its unequal distribution is an open question, which is not the case.
Decades of Evidence Point to Material Conditions
Popay emphasizes that the weight of evidence accumulated over decades is clear: the primary causes of inequalities in health, driving poorer health for poorer groups, are the material conditions in which people are born, live, work, and grow old. It is growing inequalities in access to material resources, power, and privilege, not irresponsible behaviors, that have created the 20-year gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least advantaged groups in the UK.
Questionable Sponsorship
Popay also raises concerns about the study’s main sponsor, Oxford Healthspan, a company that sells “whole-food spermidine” supplements. While good-quality research suggests these supplements show great promise in laboratory and observational studies, the benefits shown in clinical human trials are mixed. Popay calls for more transparency about such sponsorships in health research.
This critique highlights the ongoing debate about the root causes of health inequalities and the importance of addressing social determinants rather than focusing solely on individual behavior.
