Healthy Body – Healthy Mind: Keeping the Balance

This week is Men’s Health Week (12-18 June 2017) and the theme is Healthy Body – Healthy Mind: Keeping the Balance. It explores the different ways men and boys are managing to keep healthy, physically and emotionally, in a busy and sometimes challenging world.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says that the 11 million men in Australia usually have poorer health than women. They say:

• 1 in 10 Australian men aged 65 and older are smokers
• 2 in 5 men living in disadvantaged areas have used drugs
• 2 in 5 men living in the most disadvantaged areas have used illicit drugs
• 72 to 100 is the ratio of prostate cancer deaths among overseas born men and Australian born men
• Men born in cities live 3.4 years longer than men born in remote areas
• Only 2 in 5 men get enough exercise
• 1 in 2 Australian men have experienced violence since they turned 15 and
• 1 in 2 men have experienced sexual difficulty.

We can all do more to be healthier.

So what can men do to improve their health and keep their balance?

1. At least once a year have a regular check up with your GP.
2. Build resilience to deal with life’s challenges – join a club or a men’s shed, check out Men’s Health Australia, the Resilience Doughnut, and Men’s Wellbeing.
3. Keep active – join a gym, walk around the block with your partner a few times a week, join a team – football, touch, cricket.
4. Fuel your body properly. Eating well doesn’t have to be complicated or confusing. Understanding the building blocks of food and calculating the energy your body needs is a great place to start: http://www.healthier.qld.gov.au/eat/.