Here’s a frightening statistic: every three hours a Kiwi man dies from a potentially preventable illness. Furthermore, 40 New Zealanders are diagnosed with diabetes every day. Of those cases, 90% are type 2 diabetes, which can be managed or prevented through lifestyle changes. Over 260,000 New Zealanders live with diabetes, and the Ministry of Health estimates that as many as 1 in 4 people could have pre-diabetes.
Today marks the beginning of Men’s Health Week and the major focus for this year’s campaign is the prevention and awareness of diabetes. The aim is to encourage New Zealand men to proactively take charge and improve their health and wellbeing. The biggest and fastest-growing potentially preventable disease in NZ is diabetes.
The good news is, if you have pre-diabetes, you can halve your chances of developing the disease by achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, eating a well balanced diet, exercising regularly and using medication, where appropriate.
During this awareness week, New Zealand men will be encouraged to complete an online survey at www.menshealthweek.co.nz to find out their Men’s Health Score, and then to challenge their mates to do the same.
The odds of developing diabetes increase with smoking, age, weight and high blood pressure. If you are overweight (especially around your waist); have had high blood glucose in the past or have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes (also known as impaired glucose tolerance) or have diabetes in your family (grandparents, parents, brothers or sisters) your risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases.
The chronic health complications caused by diabetes are essentially the same for men and women, but there are some conditions that are unique only to men such as impaired sexual function.
Small steps lead to big changes and slash the odds. Healthy eating and just 30 minutes of daily exercise can prevent some cancers, depression, type 2 diabetes and increase your overall health. Build your healthy foundations by reducing portion sizes, fats, salt, sugar and alcohol and see how much better you feel for it!
Just like a car needs regular servicing, our bodies need an annual warrant of fitness, and throughout June men can talk to their local Unichem or Life Pharmacy pharmacist and get a free Men’s Health Pit Stop Check, have their blood pressure taken and learn about which screening tools are appropriate for them. Learn more here.