Britain is a sick country.
Economists have been saying that for years about the nation`s economic health, but now doctors are saying it too, in a more literal sense.
Scotland in particular is among the world`s leaders in the incidence of heart disease, lung cancer and other ailments. England and Wales are not in great shape either. Medical men say this record is due to the fact Britons follow an unhealthy diet, smoke too much and exercise too little.
A recently published survey by the Geneva-based World Health Organization showed that men in Glasgow, Scotland`s largest city, have the highest incidence of lung cancer in the world.
One Glasgow man in 500 develops the disease each year, and a newborn Glaswegian baby stands a 1 in 6 chance of getting it in later life. Cases of male lung cancer run at 130.6 per 100,000 people and other Scottish cities are not far behind; Edinburgh has 103.2, Dundee 100 and Aberdeen 98.5.
The report said Scottish levels of male lung cancer are exceeded only by blacks in New Orleans, New Zealand Maoris and native Hawaiians. Lung cancer rates among Scottish women also are high.
Another WHO report last January said Scotland has 70 deaths from lung cancer for every 100,000 people. England and Wales has 56 deaths per 100,000, one of the worst records in Europe.
Doctors lay much of the blame for this on heavy smoking. The government estimates there are 15 million smokers in Britain, out of a population of 56 million. Nearly half of British men smoke, compared with 31 percent of Americans, according to survey findings.
Making Glasgow a tobacco-free city by the year 2000 would reduce premature deaths from lung cancer there by 440 each year, the WHO study concluded.
A report this week by the Health Department said the percentage of teenagers under 16 regularly smoking 50 or more cigarettes a week has risen from 11 to 13 percent since 1982.
The report estimated schoolchildren are smoking between $105 million and $135 million worth of cigarettes a year and about 45 percent of girls aged 16 now smoke.
Anti-smoking campaigners said these figures show that sports promotions sponsored by tobacco companies are encouraging teenagers to take up smoking. Most forms of advertising by tobacco companies are banned.
The government said it would spend $1.5 million in a television advertising campaign in the coming year to discourage teenage smoking.
The recent WHO survey showed that, in addition to lung cancer, Scots are unusually prone to other types of cancer, probably because of smoking, drinking to excess and inadequate diet.
Scotland leads Britain in the incidence of bowel cancer and some parts of Scotland, like the Shetland Islands, have one of the world`s highest rates of breast cancer. Cancer of the gullet in Scottish women is the highest recorded in Europe, apparently, doctors say, because of excessive whisky drinking and a diet low in fresh fruit and vegetables.
Scots eat less fruit than people in the south of England, and only half the amount of vegetables, the government said.
The WHO report showed Scotland has the highest death rate in the world from heart disease and Britain has one of the highest death rates in Europe from this cause. In Scotland, there are 300 deaths from heart disease per 100,000 population. Ireland and Finland come next with 280 per 100,000. Nearly 40 percent of all deaths in Britain are due to heart disease, with the top rates in Scotland and Wales.
Dr. Keith Ball, chairman of the group, said the coronary death rate could be halved if Britons improved their diets.
The British diet is rich in sugar, fat and salt and low in fibers, fruits and vegetables. Government health authorities say there are 4.5 ounces of fat in the average daily diet and this should be cut by one-third.
One survey concluded that 40 percent of all British males and 32 percent of females are overweight.
Most medical bills in Britain are paid by the state through the National Health Service.
Authorities said there appears to be a definite correlation between disease and levels of education and economic well-being. Scotland, Wales, the north of England and the Midlands, all economically depressed areas, fare more poorly than the prosperous southeast of England, which includes London.
The government`s Medical Research Council said this is apparently due to the fact that people in the southeast are generally better educated and therefore are more diet conscious, exercise more and smoke less than other Britons.