Overweight men are being urged to take small steps to change their lifestyle as part of a new men’s health initiative or risk dying four years earlier than women.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard launched the Men’s Health Framework, which encourages males to play an active role in their own health, as part of Men’s Health Week (June 11-17).
“For some men, as they grow older and their waistlines expand, their lifespan shrinks,” Mr Hazzard said.
“This strategy is all about helping men find simple ways to get healthy, through both diet and lifestyle, and live longer.”
The NSW Government is investing more than $2.1 billion in four priority areas of the Framework – mental health and wellbeing, cancer, healthy living and chronic disease and sexually transmitted infections.
More than half of men in NSW aged 24-34 are either overweight or obese and they are more likely to smoke.
In 2017-18, the NSW Government committed more than $31 million to the prevention of overweight and obesity.
Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service is a free telephone-based coaching service supporting lifestyle changes on healthy eating, exercise, alcohol consumption and weight loss.
Under the Get Healthy at Work program, workers undergo a health and those at risk of a chronic disease are referred to a GP, the Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service or Quitline.
In 2017-18 the NSW Government invested:
NSW Health Deputy Secretary Dr Nigel Lyons said during Men’s Health Week all men should consider making three small changes to their everyday routine for life- long benefits.