According to a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, most Australian males are overweight, only 5 per cent eat enough fruit and vegetables and less than a third aged over 15 years participate in organized sport.
The report, appropriately called ‘The Health of Australia's Males’, also showed that sporting participation rates among men aged between 25 and 34 years declined by 5 per cent in between 2005-06 and 2009-10 but increased by 7 per cent among males aged between 15 and 17 years. It found that men from higher socio-economic groups were more likely to participate in regular physical activity and sport. In 2007-08, only 42 per cent of adult males exercised sufficiently to obtain health benefits.
Only 46 per cent of men aged over 18 years regularly consume sufficient serves of fruit and 8 per cent usually consume sufficient serves of vegetables. The report also said that 48% of Australian males had suffered from a mental health condition and one quarter had a disability.
The report added that Australian male life expectancy was 79 years, compared to an average of 76.3 years across the industrialized world. Males born between 2007 and 2009, could expect to live about 24 years longer than their counterparts born between 1901 and 1910. Men aged 65 years between 2007 and 2009, could expect to live 18 years longer than males born in the first decade of the 20th century.
The report adds that men have a life expectancy five years shorter than women, a higher risk of cancer, injury, smoking, illicit drug use and obesity but are less likely to see a doctor. More than 68 per cent of men are overweight or obese and 16 per cent did not visit a doctor last year.
The report was launched today as a key part of the Federal Government's National Male Health Policy, which aims to get men looking after their health and wellbeing. The AIHW report says a range of biological, psychological and structural reasons have been put forward to account for men's reluctance to use health services.
The report lists the reasons for not using health services. These include the fact many services are not open outside working hours, embarrassment about discussing emotional or sexual health issues with a female doctor, and discomfort about discussing the reason for a doctor's visit in the waiting room. Men are less likely than women to take part in cancer screening programs and just 49 percent of males have a prostate check the report adds.
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