Men’s Health Week

This week (10-16 June) the world celebrates Men’s Health Week. A week to bring awareness to health issues that affect men disproportionately and focuses on getting men to become more aware of problems they may have or could develop.

The focus for 2019 is men’s health by numbers – A focus on the key numbers that men need to know about their own health. Key numbers for men include:

• 37 – a waist size of 37 inches or above puts you at increased of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
• 150 – men should aim for 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week.
• 5 – we should aim to eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day.
• 14 – maximum 14 units of alcohol a week.
• 10 – cigarette smokers die 10 years younger on average than non-smokers.
• 120/80 – normal blood pressure.
• 75 – 75% of suicides (3 out of 4) are by men.
• 1 man in 5 dies before the age of 65.
• 2 men in 5 die before the age of 75.
• Men in unskilled work are 3 times more likely to take their own lives than men in senior management.
• The richest men live on average 10 years longer than the least well-off men.

Research from Boots has found that men are less likely to follow up on warning symptoms, with blokes in Britain visiting the doctor 20 per cent less than their female partners. Initiatives such as Mental Health Week aim to change this, which is vital when considering that in the UK, more than 100,000 men a year die prematurely, and one man in five dies before the age of 65.

Find out more about Men’s Health Week here.