June is Men’s Health Month

Did you know that June is Men’s Health Month? Men’s Health Month is a nationwide observance that aims to increase knowledge regarding men’s unique healthcare issues. Other noble aims of Men’s Health Month are to encourage boys, men and their loved ones to adhere to healthier habits and introduce more healthful choices into their lives such as regular exercise and cleaner food choices.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asserts that males in the United States tend to die approximately five years sooner than females. Moreover, men die at higher rates from nine of the top ten leading causes of death in the US. Males are also far less likely to visit doctors for preventative issues than their female counterparts. The goal of Men’s Health Month is to change these dismal statistics for the better.

During Men’s Health Month, men are strongly encouraged to take control of their health statuses, and families are encouraged to teach young boys healthful lifestyle choices and habits throughout their childhood years (Office of Minority Health, 2019). There are a number of actionable things people can do to observe Men’s Health Month. The actions people can take to support Men’s Health Month have been listed below.

1. Members of the public should wear blue on Friday June 14th, which has been designated ‘Wear Blue Day.’ This day is a part of the year-round Wear BLUE® awareness campaign that had been created by Men’s Health Network to raise awareness about the importance of men’s health and to encourage males to live longer and healthier lives (Office of Minority Health, 2019).
2. Utilize the hashtag #MensHealthMonth as much as possible during the month of June when creating posts on social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
3. Encourage the men and boys in your life to adhere to healthier lifestyle choices such as smoking cessation, regular physical exercise, stress reduction, healthy eating habits, and ample sleep and rest.
4. Ensure that the men in and boys in your life routinely seek medical advice via primary healthcare providers to promote prevention and/or early detection of potential health problems.
5. Parents, grandparents and guardians can proactively teach young their boys healthy lifestyle choices to increase the likelihood that these boys will adopt healthier lifestyles as adult males.

REFERENCES

Office of Minority Health. (2019, June 7). Men’s Health Month. Retrieved June 13, 2019, from  https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/content.aspx?ID=10238&lvl=2&lvlid=12