THE good news for men and women in West Devon, according to figures published last week by the NHS, is that they are likely to live longer than men and women in the rest of the country. In statistics accumulated from 2003to 2005, a man in West Devon lives on average to 78.9 years, while the figure for England is 76.9. Women in the region showed they lived to 82.9 years compared with 81.1. When it comes to smoking, figures compiled for the same period showed the habit killed 170.4 people more than 35 years old per 100,000 compared with a national average of 234.4. Early deaths from heart disease and strokes per 100,000 aged under 75 in West Devon showed there were 66.7 deaths compared with 90.5 in England, while cancer caused 100.9 deaths per 100,000 with 119 nationally. The survey said that 6.1% of people in West Devon were feeling in poor health compared with 7.8% nationally. The area recorded a high figure for healthy eating adults. In 2001 to 02 statistics show that 27.4% of adults were eating healthily compared with a national figure of 23.8%. According to NHS figures taken from 2000 to 2002 13% of people are binge drinking in West Devon, compared with 18.2% average in England.