2.3 Health

• Bradford residents fare worse than the UK average for many health and welfare indicators, and have high levels of obesity and diabetes, and low levels of physical activity.
• Many of the health issues in Bradford also tie into wider economic and social issues such as access to health services and health literacy. When considering health, it is important to look to these ‘wider determinants of health’ to explain decreased life expectancy. 

In 2021, 42.4% of Bradford residents described their health as “very good”, increasing from 40.0% in 2011.

Bradford is lower on a number of health and wellbeing indicators than the England and Yorkshire and The Humber average. Life expectancy in the most deprived areas of Bradford is on average 10 years less than the general English population, with wards such as Manningham, Bradford Moor, and Keighley Central most likely to have lower life expectancy.¹⁷

According to the 2021 Census, residents of Bradford are more likely to live with chronic health problems such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, there are higher rates of infant mortality and child poverty in the district compared to the rest of the UK.¹⁸ Despite these challenges, 42.4% of Bradford residents described their health as “very good” in 2021, increasing from 40.0% in 2011.

Figure 10: Proportion of residents by self-reported health comparing Census data in Bradford for 2011 to 2021 , and for Yorkshire and The Humber and England in 2021

Source: Nomis, Yorkshire and The Humber Region and England Country, 2021 Census Area Profile.

The chart compares self-reported health from Census data from 2011 with 2021 for Bradford, as well showing comparators for Yorkshire and The Humber and England. While Bradford has less people who self-report ‘Very good health’ than regional or national averages, the figure has grown 2.4% in the last decade

Next: Socio-economic deprivation