Father’s Day is a good reminder for us to talk about men’s health and bring awareness to health problems affecting males in our lives. Keeping your health in check helps keep peace of mind for you and all your family.

Research has repeatedly shown us that males are more hesitant or reluctant to talk about health concerns and often delay seeking help. This Father’s Day, start a conversation with males in your life about their health and help break the stigma around men`s health.

Let’s find out the facts about health issues affecting males and what we can do to help everyone live healthier and happier lives.

Men’s Health: Some stats.

Life expectancy for a baby boy born in Australia in 2018-2020 is 81.2 years, whereas the life expectancy for a baby girl is 85.3 years.
To help address these gaps, the Federal Government developed a National Men’s Health Strategy in 2018 to better engage and support Australian men and boys across all life-stages and ensure they can live a long, fulfilling and healthy life.
The National Men’s Health Strategy 2020-2030 sets out a plan to tackle the five key priority health areas for men, including:

1. Mental health
2. Chronic conditions
3. Sexual and reproductive health
4. Injuries and risk taking
5. Healthy ageing

Men and Mental Health

Health science research has repeatedly shown us that the earlier we seek help for mental health conditions the better. Sadly, mental health among the male population is a growing concern both locally here in Australia and globally with men accounting for average 7 out of every 9 death-by-suicides here in Australia.
There are some simple strategies that we can do to maintain good mental health including:

1. Talking – reach out to a family member or friend if you are struggling with your mental health. Your GP is also a good point of call to begin the discussion about mental health and will be able to guide you to professional help and support. Traditionally, males have been known to “bottle things up” but reaching out and talking is the most responsible thing to do if you are struggling with your mental health.
2. Stay connected and listen – if there is someone in your life who you think is struggling with their mental health, it can be a good idea to reach out and ask how they are and check in regularly (there are some excellent resources to help guide these conversations available online through organisations like “Movember”).
3. Eat well and get plenty of sleep – although these are cliched strategies, there are many high-quality research articles supporting the relationship of good lifestyle choices and good mental health.
4. Movement – keeping physically active has also been shown to help maintain good mental health and can be a good outlet for stress management.

Useful Resources:

• Movember
• Men’s Health – Australian Men’s Shed Association (mensshed.org)
• Black Dog Institute  blackdoginstitute
• Beyond Blue Beyond Blue – Men

Men and Healthy Ageing

The Australian National Men’s Health Strategy has shown that eight out of the ten top causes of death in men are typically diseases of older age including diabetes, bowel cancer, prostate cancer, CHD and COPD.

Although, there can be a hereditary link to these conditions, there is also a proven lifestyle and behaviour link to chronic illnesses.

To help decrease the risk of chronic disease, it is important to take a proactive approach to health and wellbeing.

Medical Guidelines advocate for the following strategies:

• Remaining physically active throughout life
• Having regular check-in appointments with your GP, this is especially important after the age of 50
• Having a supportive social network around you and engaging regularly with people. This can be tricky if you do live away from family or friends but, it can be a good idea to join an organisation or club. Australian Men’s Shed Association is a good organisation that helps bring people together.

At BalanceNorth, we have a team of allied health and fitness professionals who can help you adopt positive health choices and decrease the risk of chronic disease.

We hope you have a great Father’s Day!