To coincide with this, healthcare provider AXA PPP has launched a campaign called #FitFor40. The aim is to raise awareness of how important the forties are for maintaining future health while also encouraging guys to take their health more seriously.
In support of #FitFor40, AXA PP commissioned a survey of both men and women and their attitudes to health. The survey, of people that had just turned 40, revealed that;
- 47% of women and 30% of men get tired more easily
- 31% of women and 20% of men admit to being more forgetful
- 44% of women and 27% of men find it harder to maintain a healthy weight and
- 26% of women and 18% Of men say their eyesight isn’t as good as it once was.
As you can see, many men and women admit they are feeling the effects of ageing. I personally found it very interesting that men didn’t seem to notice the effects of age as much as women. There are all manner of possible reasons for this, some of which we’d best not explore. That’s a blog post for another time!
I wouldn’t say I have noticed the signs of ageing as such, but I do exercise and watch my diet. That said, I haven’t done much exercise recently because I’ve been recovering from a broken toe (you can read the story here) and I’ve found the inability to go running very frustrating.
The most telling bit of the research concerned the actions men and women take towards their health. Men, who are less likely to admit to feeling the signs of ageing, are also less likely to do anything about it.
For instance;
- Just 12% of men said they would give up smoking versus 18% of women
- 33% of men said they’d start exercising more versus 28% of women and
- 35% of men said they would start eating more healthily compared to 42% of women.
I won’t go on as the list is very exhaustive and it’ll get boring. I’m sure you get the picture; some of us guys need to take our health more seriously. Speaking for myself as a father, it’s not always easy to make time to exercise or prepare health food. Even so, I know I must make the effort if I wish to be healthy both for my own kids and for the grandchildren they may well produce (who knows, if I’m particularly lucky, maybe even great grandchildren?).
AXA PPP has produced a simple five point guide for anyone in their forties that wants to improve their health. You can read the whole thing by following this link, but in summary:
- Count your steps, buy a pedometer and try to walk 10,000 a day
- Swap a piece of sugary or fatty food for some fruit or veg
- Reduce the amount of meat in your favourite foods and replace it with vegetables
- When it comes to exercise, do something you enjoy and
- Set yourself a challenge such as a triathlon.
If you are in your forties, do you notice the signs of ageing? If so, have you taken any action to improve your health and if so, what do you do?
Pic credit; Alan Cleaver. Sourced from Flikr, Reproduced under Creative Commons agreement.
Disclosure; This post was produced in collaboration with AXA PP and I was compensated for my efforts. You can read my Disclosure policy here.
11 thoughts on “Will you be #FitFor40 this Men’s Health Week?”
Still miles from 40 (7 months is a long time) but I do notice a few things, especially eyesight, but then I had brilliant eyesight most of my life so even a minor deterioration is noticeable.
Just a note: You said men are less likely to do anything about it but your stats show more men than women would quit smoking and exercise more.
Funny you mention eyesight. I was bit worried mine was on the slide but last time I had it checked the optician said I had 20/20 vision! Thanks for pointing out the typo. It has been fixed!
I must admit, the birth of my son was a big spur in my backside to get fitter. I quit smoking and visited a gym three times a week, until JB was born. Then everything, except the smoking, slipped by the wayside.
I recently found myself on the scales, only to discover I had gained 10lb. Luckily its only took a couple of weeks to shift that by watching what I ate. Snacks were a big temptation, which I have overcome by drinking 1/2 pint of water, or piece of fruit, every time I feel a pang.
Now that summer is here, I am on the garden a lot more, and on those days I’m hitting 16,000+ steps. On my lazy days I’m clocking an average of 9,000. (info kindly supplied by my iPhone health app).
I think now’s the time to kick in a little exercise, and try to shift another 10 😉
I should probably get used to using the iPhone health app. Good luck shifting the additional 10 pounds!
Fab tips there! Thanks for linking up and see you tomorrow (whoop, whoop)!
Thanks Vicki, Tips we should all follow! Very much look forward to catching up and best of luck in the BiBs.
In my forties I’ve stopped smoking, taken up yoga and belly dancing adam stopped the carbs and sugars! It’s so important to be fit in your forties as there’s a lot of living left and to get the most out of life we need to be fit. By the way both me and my husband noticed our eyesight went at 45!
I’ve got another couple of years of good eyesight left then?? Thanks for commenting.
Great tips. I am trying to walk 10k steps a day at the moment and it is a LONG way 🙂 Thanks so much for linking up to #TheList x
Best of luck hitting 10K! Thanks for hosting.
Thanks for the information!!