Website of the week: Men's health

Abstract

As I searched for men's health related websites, it seemed to me that men were mainly concerned with hair growth, penis enlargement, smart eating, and better weightlifting. We are concerned with things that do not matter but not enough with those that do. Are men's obsessions with genital size and body shape a symptom of our image dominated culture? adbusters.org/spoofads/fashion/obsession-m, which is one of a clever collection of spoof ads, offers a witty reflection on this. The US based Men's Health Network (www.menshealthnetwork.org) says that men's health and wellbeing are deteriorating steadily because of a lack of awareness, poor health education, and culturally induced behaviour patterns. Even though we'd rather ignore it, violence is a male problem. Men are responsible for most of the structural and individual violence in society. Those who suffer as a result are women, children, and, not surprisingly, men. The Men's Health Network also provides links to US vital statistics. In 1998, the age adjusted death rate for males of all races was 1.6 times that for females. In 1995 drowning was the seventh leading cause among injury related deaths in the US and males drowned four times as often as females in every age group (blacks twice as often as whites). Deaths from fires among males are 1.5 times higher than among females. For more recent, UK based data, visit www.menshealthforum.org.uk The Centers for Disease Control, always an invaluable source for those who love numbers, also devotes a slot to men's health issues (www.cdc.gov/health/mensmenu.htm). I found the mortality maps fascinating, but you would need speedy internet access, or something to do on the side while waiting for the maps to download, because these files are rather large. Worldwide there is an increasing number of serious men's health related organisations carrying out important work in the community, and a good way to find them is via the web. Gay Men's Health (www.gmhp.demon.co.uk) particularly emphasises local projects and networking, and people from the Men's Health Forum visit pubs and betting shops to screen the most vulnerable men in their normal settings.