What‘s wrong with Aussie men

The health report for Australian men is not in good shape with half suffering from chronic health conditions.

New research from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has revealed what issues men are suffering from including heart disease, dementia and mental health disorders.

Half of males (49 per cent) suffer from at least one of the top ten chronic conditions including diabetes, asthma, cancer, arthritis and heart disease.

That statistic is “shocking” according to GP Dr Sabrina Campbell who works at men’s health company Mosh.

“The important factor with this is a lot of this can be preventable or it can be screened for and so we see that men are not accessing health care as they should, because a lot of these problems and conditions can be addressed,” she said.

Three-quarters of men (75 per cent) are currently overweight or obese, an interesting figure considering that 58 per cent of men rated their health as either excellent or very good.

Those figures don’t add up according to Dr Campbell.

“It comes down to self-perception, what men perceive as healthy may not be what society sees as healthy, or what science says is healthy,” he said.

Just four per cent of men meet the vegetable guideline.

The effects of ill-health can be drastic, with premature deaths accounting for 40 per cent of all male deaths compared to only 27 per cent of female deaths.

Twice as many men (27 per cent) exceed more than 10 standard drinks per week compared to women (13 per cent) and they’re also more likely to smoke.

Men are also more likely to not seek help when they need it.

Through 2021-22, there was an average of 3.3 GP services claimed by men compared to 4.1 services claimed per woman.

Further, 21 per cent of men did not see a doctor through the whole year.

This also impacts the mental health space with suicide and self-inflicted injuries named as the leading cause for ill health and premature death for men aged 15-44 according to AIHW.

Despite that, only 12 per cent of males saw a professional for their mental health compared to 21 per cent of females.