Men’s Health Week takes place from the 12-18th of June and is a time to focus on men’s physical health as well as their mental health and emotional wellbeing. On average, men have more accidents, experience more illness and die younger compared to Australian women. The theme for 2023 in Australia is Healthy Habits which focuses on encouraging men and boys to build healthy habits by identifying small changes they can make that benefit their health and wellbeing. In this month’s blog our resident dietitian Nicky takes a closer look at the current state of Men’s health in Australia and explores some simple healthy habits men can adopt to improve their health.
How are Aussie men going when it comes to some key health behaviours?
Well it’s safe to say there is some room for improvement!
- Less than 1 in 2 men aged 18yrs+ are meeting the fruit recommendations
- <5% of men aged 18yrs+ are meeting the vegetable recommendations
- 1 in 8 men consume sugar sweetened drinks daily
- 1 in 4 men average more than 2 standard alcoholic drinks per day
- 1 in 4 men are meeting both the physical activity component and the muscle-strengthening component of the exercise guidelines
What are some simple healthy habits to work on?
The key is to start small when it comes to changing our behaviours. Work on one habit at a time and slowly build from here.
- Eat two pieces of fruit per day
- Aim for 1-2 cups of salad or vegetables at each main meal
- Swap soft-drink or energy drinks for unsweetened coffee, tea, mineral water or soda water
- Aim for 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day
- Reach out for help from your GP when it comes to your mental health. Sadly death by suicide is more than three times as common in Australian men in comparison to women
- Include fish or seafood 2-3x/wk
- Reduce your intake of processed meats like ham, salami and deli meat
- Reduce your intake of takeaway food and swap them for an Activate Foods Meal
- Cook with extra virgin olive oil
- Swap refined carbohydrate foods for lower GI and/or whole-grain varieties. This might look like:
- Swapping white bread for seeded or sourdough bread
- Swapping english muffins for sourdough crumpets or rolls
- Swapping cornflakes or rice bubbles for weetbix, rolled oats or natural muesli
- Swapping white potato for sweet potato
- Swapping rice crackers for vita weats
- Swapping sweet biscuits for fruit toast or fruit sourdough
- Swapping jasmine rice for basmati or brown rice
If you or someone your know needs help with prioritising your health, take a step forward and book in with one of the Eatsense dietitians today!
www.eatsense.com.au
Shop 20, Elizabeth Court
30 Karalta Road,
Erina NSW 2250
