Healthy Town blog: Time to focus on the men

Men’s health was the topic last week for Healthy Town 2015. After a successful cookery demo as part of the focus on healthy eating in week 2, it was time to focus on the men.

Although the crowd was smaller for the main event of the week, the talk with Finian Murray (Development Officer with the men’s health forum), provided some really useful information which was well received by those in attendance.

Murray made the topic really interesting by working an interactive approach and weaved a bunch of true/false statements into the talk, which the audience got the chance to hazard a guess at and discuss. It kept those present on their toes and also gave them the chance to ask questions, which they regularly did.

Through the questions and answers format, Finian delivered some interesting facts. For example 40 per cent of men go to the doctor on the strong advice from a female and 80 per cent admit waiting too long before seeking treatment. Some of the statistics and statements really got the crowd thinking seriously about making small changes to improve their health.

Here are some of the interesting facts and figures he presented:

• Men die an average of five years younger than women (the average life expectancy for men is 78.7 and 83.2 for women);
• On average 11 years is spent in poor health. Male professional workers can expect to live until they are 81.4 years, which is 6.1 years longer than their unskilled counterparts;
• Seven out of eight men have at least one risk factor for heart disease or stroke;
• In Ireland and the UK, nearly half of all men die from heart disease and related conditions like stroke;
• Prostate cancer in men is almost as common as breast cancer in women;
• Men are 12 times more likely to die from heart disease than prostate cancer;
• One in three men get cancer;
• Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in men aged 15 to 44;
• 25% of men in Ireland smoke; the figure is 46% for those in the 19 – 35 year old category;

Murray took out the measuring tape and enlightened the room with the news that a man’s waist should be 37” or less and a woman’s should be 32”, to be considered healthy. Less than half of all men engage in some form of regular physical activity and he provided a very useful tip on healthy eating: include colour at every meal i.e. orange juice or salad.

And another interesting comparison: two pints of alcohol is the same as a king size Mars bar, on the calorie count! “Enjoy a drink, but remember, less is more. If you drink, do so in moderation,” he advised.

And he finished up with a question: is it true or false that men can make changes to improve their health, well-being and quality of life. True? Yes, of course! Every little change can make a huge difference.