LOOKING to the future instead of blaming the past will help people in Inverclyde live a healthy life after the age of 60, according to a senior councillor.

Health and social care committee chair Councillor Robert Moran spoke to the Tele following a report released by National Records of Scotland which reveals Inverclyde's 'healthy life expectancy' is lagging behind.

The data shows that between 2017 and 2019, women in Inverclyde were expected to live 59.7 years of their life in a ‘healthy’ state and men were expected to live 58.4 years before their health started to deteriorate.

This marks a slight change from between 2015 and 2017, when women were expected to live 59.5 years healthily and men were expected to live 60.5 healthy years.

In terms of overall life expectancy, women were expected to live until 79.7 – meaning that they would have 20 years of living with ill health.

For men, a life expectancy of 75.2 meant 15 years of living with health concerns.

Nationally, males can expect to live in good health for an average of 61.7 years while for females it is 61.9 years.

Councillor Moran says there is no simple solution to the problem but is in no doubt that social deprivation plays a big part in how long people live.

He added: "Some areas of Inverclyde still have some of the highest levels of deprivation in the UK.

"We still live in times where if someone is living in a more affluent area of Inverclyde, and they've lived a good life and had a good job, they will live longer.

"They have all the advantages.

"Low pay and more challenges make it so much more difficult to achieve a longer life.

"We have to stop blaming the past and look at what we can do now to make things better for people."

Councillor Moran is calling for more government funding to help with initiatives which promote healthy lifestyles.

He also says big businesses also have a 'social responsibility' in terms of the promotion of smoking and alcohol consumption.

Mr Moran says educating young people early in life about the choices they have available to them is vital in pushing Inverclyde's healthy life expectancy up in the years to come.

He added: "Young people need to be educated in the right way about the importance of healthy lifestyles.

"If they have all of the information in front of them at an early age, they can make informed choices about how they live their lives."