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Written question asked by Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 22 October 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 24 October 2007. It was answered by Angela Eagle (Labour) on Monday, 29 October 2007 on behalf of the Treasury.


Elderly: Malnutrition

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many deaths were caused by malnutrition among those aged over 65 years in the last 10 years, broken down by age and region; and if he will make a statement.
Answer

I have been asked to reply.The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 29 October 2007:"The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths were caused by malnutrition among those aged over 65 years in the last 10 years, broken down by age and region. I am replying in her absence. (160867)""The attached table provides the numbers of deaths where malnutrition or effects of hunger were mentioned on the death certificate, by age group for persons aged 65 years and over, for each government office region in England, and for Wales, for the years 1997 to 2006 (the latest year available)."

Table 1. Deaths from malnutrition and effects of hunger¹, persons aged 65 and over by age group, by Government office region in England², and Wales, 1997-2006³
Deaths (persons)
Age (years)
65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85+
North East
1997 3 3 4 2 3
1998 2 1 — 2 7
1999 1 2 3 3 5
2000 4 5 2 4 5
2001 3 2 5 2 8
2002 2 2 6 3 6
2003 1 1 — 2 9
2004 2 — 3 4 1
2005 1 1 3 2 4
2006 1 1 5 5 7
North West
1997 2 6 4 8 9
1998 5 1 3 7 11
1999 6 4 5 4 7
2000 2 6 4 2 8
2001 2 4 6 8
2002 2 4 3 7 9
2003 1 6 7 3 8
2004 3 4 10 7 9
2005 2 7 5 7 6
2006 4 — 5 4 8
Yorkshire and the Humber
1997 — 6 3 8 12
1998 3 2 4 5 9
1999 4 3 1 6 6
2000 1 1 4 3 6
2001 2 3 3 3 4
2002 3 3 3 1 5
2003 1 4 3 6 10
2004 2 3 4 — 4
2005 1 2 1 3 4
2006 4 2 2 3 6
East Midlands
1997 2 3 3 2 2
1998 2 3 4 11 9
1999 2 3 2 6 10
2000 2 4 5 3 10
2001 1 3 3 3 4
2002 1 5 1 5 3
2003 1 2 3 1 7
2004 3 4 1 5 5
2005 1 6 3 7 6
2006 2 1 7 6 7
West Midlands
1997 6 3 12 12 21
1998 3 9 5 7 10
1999 2 8 5 10 20
2000 4 7 9 8 8
2001 3 2 6 4 9
2002 5 2 6 11 12
2003 1 4 6 7 7
2004 2 3 12 10 10
2005 3 2 2 6 4
2006 3 7 12 2 6
East of England
1997 0 5 5 4 7
1998 3 0 4 5 8
1999 3 4 5 6 11
2000 2 1 3 5 10
2001 0 4 8 6 6
2002 4 4 4 6 10
2003 1 1 2 4 3
2004 2 2 2 3 6
2005 1 3 2 10 17
2006 3 5 3 4 7
London
1997 5 1 2 6 12
1998 2 5 7 6 8
1999 3 4 7 9 11
2000 2 1 5 4 10
2001 0 0 8 3 6
2002 1 2 4 7 4
2003 3 2 4 2 6
2004 2 2 1 0 5
2005 0 3 1 2 5
2006 6 2 2 1 8
South East
1997 3 3 6 5 14
1998 3 6 4 5 10
1999 1 9 6 7 13
2000 4 2 12 3 11
2001 1 2 3 7 8
2002 4 2 3 6 14
2003 2 2 7 4 8
2004 2 3 3 9 11
2005 3 5 5 9 10
2006 3 9 7 10 18
South West
1997 2 6 5 6 23
1998 3 3 10 7 21
1999 5 2 7 6 5
2000 4 5 6 5 15
2001 5 0 6 1 10
2002 1 3 5 3 8
2003 1 2 5 4 5
2004 2 2 4 9 14
2005 3 3 5 6 5
2006 2 5 6 4 12
Wales
1997 1 0 6 4 1
1998 1 2 5 5 9
1999 1 4 2 9 5
2000 2 0 4 4 7
2001 0 3 3 7 9
2002 0 4 3 4 9
2003 3 0 7 3 8
2004 1 1 5 3 5
2005 1 4 3 3 8
2006 4 3 3 8 9
¹ Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 260-269 (malnutrition) and E904.1 (effects of hunger) for the years 1997 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes E40-E46 (malnutrition) and T73.0 (effects of hunger) for 2001 onwards. Deaths were included where one of these causes was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate. The introduction of ICD-10 in 2001 means that the numbers of deaths from each cause before 2001 are not completely comparable with later years. ² Based on boundaries as of 2007. ³ Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
160867; 465 c1016-9W
Session
2006-07
Subjects
Death Older people Malnutrition
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk