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The first seriousand unprecedented threat -to men's health in the
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UK is obesity. And remember, medical obesity may begin long before you think someone is actually fat. Men are more at risk than women because they tend to have a less accurate perception of their own weight, know less about nutrition and are less likely to go to their GP. High alcohol consumption is still a large part of male culture and alcohol is one of the key contributors to obesity.
There are lots of ways to check if you are overweight body mass
index, waist circumference and waist to hip ratio-all of which we will go into in the next issue.
But Ian Banks, doctor and president of the Men's Health Forum, says there is one simple and foolproof way to check: "If your belt is more than 40 inches to the fastening then you are obese."
We are all aware that being overweight is bad for you, but research has shown that it is the daddy of most serious medical conditions.
Higher fat levels in the blood, diabetes and high blood pressure are all serious risks to health but if you have all three then your risk from each more than doubles. This is known as metabolic syndrome. The most common cause for having all three conditions is obesity.
Already two thirds of men in England and Wales are overweight by 2010 it could be 75%. It puts them at risk of heart disease, cancer or stroke. In Glasgow the life expectancy for a man is now under 70. Most men today do too little physical activity to keep them healthy. Many of the health and safety procedures we have put in place in the road transport industry have cut the risk of injury but at the same time they have removed many of the physical aspects of the job.
As individuals or employers, we cannot afford to ignore the risks to men's health. One of the most effective ways for us to achieve change is through work. Unlike women, who often work on their health and weight individually, men are more motivated and successful when they work in teams. The shared sense of achievement with colleagues is crucial.
Banks suggests that men are also more motivated by what they can do for others than for themselves: this makes sponsored activities for charity a more successful team idea than weight loss or smoking cessation alone.