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England's breastfeeding rates revealed

24/06/2008

How many mothers know that breast is best varies hugely across the country, health maps of England have revealed today.

According to the health profiles, over nine in ten (91 per cent) new mothers in Lambeth, London, tried breastfeeding.

This compares to just 33 per cent in Knowsley, Merseyside.

Today's health profiles are the first to include data on children's health, including breastfeeding.

Other information released for the first time include the hours of exercise children undertake each week.

Many more children in Malvern Hills get at least two hours of high quality PE per week than those in Newcastle-under-Lyme (99 per cent compared to 63 per cent respectively).

And in Hackney 16 per cent of children are obese compared to just five per cent in Teesdale.

The profiles also reveal that life expectancy from birth continues to improve across England for both men and women, but there is still a wide variation across the country.

Men in Kensington and Chelsea can expect to live ten years longer than those in Manchester, while women in Kensington and Chelsea live on average nine years longer than those in Liverpool.

Smoking still causes a higher rate of death in the north of England compared to the south.

Commenting on the findings, public health minister Dawn Primarolo said: "Inequalities around the country are stark, but the NHS and local authorities can use these profiles to target local health hotspots with effective measures to make a real difference.

"We recently renewed our commitment to tackling these issues with the Health Inequalities: Progress and Next Steps report. I am confident that we can confront the issues facing communities head on and make health inequalities everyone's business."