Why will children in Spain not live as long as their grandparents?

The conclusion of a European study carried out in 16 countries including Spain has found that life expectancy is decreasing. An "absolute decrease in life expectancy" has been observed since 2019 according to the study. Since then people have lived 0.18 years less, meaning that they are dying almost two months earlier on average, or living 64 days less than their predecessors.

Life expectancy rose steadily between 1990 and 2011, when it began to slow down and eight years later, negative indicators started to be recorded. Scientists involved in the study argue that this decline was not only due to respiratory infections caused by covid, but also higher incidences of cardiovascular diseases and tumours, caused by factors that can be attributed to lifestyle rather than genetics, also played a role. High blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol, overweight, occupational hazards, alcohol and sedentary lifestyles are all causing earlier deaths.

"Our children are going to live less longer than we will," confirms Alejandro de la Torre Luque, a researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University, who participated in the study published in The Lancet Public Health. "Yes, it is a very sad message, but we have to be prepared to try to reverse this with public health policies on modifiable factors, applied to the new generations. We're seeing the impact every year and we'll see it in the decades to come, unfortunately," he says.

Among Spain's particularities is the combination of reduced health investment with "rising rates" of "very basic" diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. "We see certain factors, many related to the increase in consumption of ultra-processed foods in recent years, with large amounts of sugar and salt. In older people, treatments help them to cope well with illnesses, but the problem arises when they accumulate and lead to more complications," says De la Torre, who specialises in Legal Medicine, Psychiatry and Pathology.

Overall, in the countries analysed there was a "substantial reduction" in the trend to avoid cardiovascular disease deaths, a steady increase in Body Mass Index (BMI) over the past three decades, as well as in cholesterol and blood pressure, according to data from the article 'Changes in life expectancy in European countries 1990-2021: a sub-analysis of causes and risk factors from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021'. Published in February, it brought together data and experts from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

In Spain, the "approach" to illnesses is being undermined by the "problem of health investment, which is falling short in many cases", warns De la Torre, who points to the need to reduce waiting lists, expand mental health care and have access to "drugs that are very expensive. We have clear examples, for example, in cancer. New chemotherapy treatments have far fewer side effects and we have to try to encourage the state to improve access to these drugs in some way".

Despite this underinvestment, the fall in life expectancy in Spain was recorded somewhat later than in other countries with a similar culture, thanks to the Mediterranean diet which cushions, but does not halt, the rise of bad eating habits.

In all countries there was a dip in the curve due to the pandemic, but once the pandemic was over, the life expectancy line continued its previous downward trend. "You see a sharp drop and then it goes up, but the increase doesn't match the drop."

The task of reversing the downward trend in longevity continues with the new generations, those who will live less than their grandparents, due to childhood obesity, the use of vapes, eating disorders, addictions... "It implies a greater mobilisation of public policies so that funding structures and more support for services are generated". If we were to start now, the results would be seen in ten to twenty years, De la Torre calculates, because "it takes time to raise awareness and implement changes in the service. We can certainly reverse the curve".