WOMEN are being urged to think about their health after a fall in the gap between male and female life expectancy.

Oxfordshire director of public health Dr Jonathon McWilliam said women should think about their drinking and smoking habits because the gap in life expectancy has shrunk from 4.2 to 3.2 years.

Between 2001 and 2003 the average life expectancy of a women in Oxfordshire was 82 years compared to 77.2 for men.

However, between 2011 and 2013 the gap shrank, with women across the county expecting to live on average until they are 84 and men until they are 80.8.

Dr McWilliam told a meeting of Oxfordshire County Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee it was a worrying trend.

He said: “I am worried about women’s health, men are catching up with women in terms of longevity.

“I would never tell them what to do but I would say ‘think about it’.”

The number of avoidable deaths in men across the county fell from 408 per 100,000 of the population in 2011 to 278 in 2013. This was a bigger decline than in women, which fell from 235 to 169 during the same time period.

His comments came in his annual report to the committee where he cited a drop in teenage pregnancy, smoking levels and drinking levels as positive steps forward.

He said: “Teenage pregnancy levels are down, child poverty is down, school results have improved.

“It means it’s worth continuing.”

However, he admitted obesity levels were yet to peak, with more than half the adult population now classed as overweight.