Poles are in a much worse health condition than Polish women, they also fare much worse compared to men in other European countries – showed the Health – a Man’s Thing report published in Warsaw.
Out of 34 countries, Polish men occupy one of the last places. On average, they live up to the age of 72 years that Western Europeans already reached 21 years ago (Polish women live over 8 years longer – 80,7 years on average). Among men, both young and middle-aged (30 to 59 years old), there was 70 percent. higher mortality than their peers in the EU.
The main author of the report, prof. Dorota Cianciara, director Public Health Schools CMKP (Medical Center for Postgraduate Education), said that Poles die on average more than 5 years earlier than men in the European Union. Swedes, the longest living in the EU, live almost 8 years longer.
The health situation of Poles is the worse the lower their education is. A 30-year-old man with no higher than vocational education will live 12 years shorter than his peers with higher education. The average life expectancy of a 37,3-year-old with vocational education is 49,3 years, and with higher education – XNUMX years.
There are 18,5 million men in Poland, of which almost half have at most vocational education.
In Sweden, the difference in life expectancy depending on education is three times smaller and does not exceed 3,9 years. It is similar among Polish women. A woman in our country with no higher than vocational education lives only 4 years shorter than the one with higher education.
This example shows how much health depends on ourselves, the experts said during the debate on the results of the report. Less educated men are more likely to be obese, smoke cigarettes, abuse alcohol, do not follow a proper diet and do not play sports. They do not accept the slogan “Your health is in your hands.”
“The rule is that men, regardless of their education, are less able to both take care of their health and be ill” – emphasized prof. Cianciara. In her opinion, it results from the fact that they are afraid of social consequences: loss of job, abandonment by their partner and exclusion. Therefore, they are less likely to rate their health as bad or very bad. They are reluctant to admit any ailments, do not want to take medication and rarely go to a doctor for consultation.
Dr. Roman Sosnowski from the Urinary System Cancer Clinic of the Oncology Center in Warsaw said that men who finally decide to visit a urologist are afraid that the doctor will detect something. Some of them admit that they waited for a year to go to a regular consultation.
What diseases do they fear most? The report shows that fears of illness are similar in all men, regardless of age. Their greatest concern is that they will develop leukemia or cancer of the lung, prostate or testicles, followed by erectile dysfunction.
“There is still the tough guy stereotype that makes men often alone in their problems. Only 30 percent. of them claim to be able to confide in their troubles to friends or family members, although they all experience similar difficulties. Such a possibility is declared by 45 percent. women “- emphasized prof. Bogdan Wojtyniak from the National Institute of Public Health.
However, this stereotype of a “tough guy” who has to deal with everything on his own is slowly starting to change. “More and more men in Poland pay more attention to their health and are starting to regain it, just as they began to regain parenthood before” – believes prof. Cianciara.
The “Health – Men’s Thing” report was commissioned by Siemens. The patronage over it was taken by the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene ”. This is the second such study by this company. The previous one was devoted to the barriers to access to cancer prevention faced by Polish women. (PAP)
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