So to finish this week on men’s health let me pose a question:
According to the new numbers from the Canadian Community Health Survey released last week, men aged 25 to 44 were considerably more likely than their female counterparts to be obese. Even in the age group 45 to 64, men were slightly more obese than women.
So clearly, at least as many men as women should be worried about their weight and seeking help - especially since men, due to their greater likelihood to gain abdominal fat, are at much higher risk for weight-related diabetes and heart disease.
But when you look at any obesity program (including ours), the women seeking help by far outnumber the guys (probably by 4 to 1, if not more).
So the question is - how do you get the guys to realize that their increased weight is putting them at risk and that it is they rather than the women, who should be seeking help.
Any suggestions from my readers out there on how to increase “obesity-risk-awareness” amongst men would be most welcome.
I look forward to your thoughts on this,
AMS
Edmonton, Alberta
In The News
June 24th, 2011 at 4:04 am
In the bariatric surgery “information day” I recently attended at a UK hospital, all 30 pre-op patients in the room were women. Some of us asked whether they actually do separate information days for men and women, but the answer was no. They said that about 85% of their patients are women, and we all know that statistically it is not because women make up 85% of the obese population !!!
I recently came across your site from a link in one of the UK weight loss forums and am enjoying reading your archives, Dr Sharma — all your articles are informative and thought provoking.