This week is Men’s Health Week and Expat Insurance wants to make sure that all of the guys that we look after stay as happy and as healthy as possible while they are living in Singapore.
This week, we are going to run some stats that are important for men to know.
The Men’s Health Week Campaign 2019 is all about numbers that are significant to men’s health.
Write these digits down, put them on the fridge, on your phone or up on your desk.
Just remember that we are here to help you keep these numbers all within their optimum range for good health.
Give us a call today on 65 6401 9201 if you would like to know more about how we can do that.
Here come the numbers:
Number 37
The riskiest place to collect fat is around the middle.
These deposits are known as visceral fat and carrying too much of it may help to increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, cardio vascular disease and possibly some forms of cancer.
The upshot is that you want to keep your waist size below 37 inches.
If you are using more notches in your belt, it may be time to hit the gym and pass on the beer for a while.
If you feel like you might need some professional help in doing so, let us know.
150 minutes
This is the amount of moderate physical activity that men should aim to hit each week.
This can be done easily by fitting more NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) into your daily routine.
You could achieve this by walking briskly for 25 minutes a day.
It’s simple changes like catching public transport daily, walking instead of taking the bus to the MRT or getting off a couple of stops before you usually get off the bus.
Exercise has proven positive benefits to increased mental health also.
Another good number to shoot for could be 10,000 steps a day.
Some insurance providers incentivize their policy holders to hit these goals with reductions in their premium, cash or move tickets.
Drop us a line and ask us if you are eligible on your plan or if we can move you to one that could work for you.
5 portions of Fruit and Veg
‘Get your five a day’ has persisted for a reason. It works and it is still an easily employed and effective measure for increasing nutritional health.
Aim for as many different colors as possible and aim for most – all if possible! – to be vegetables.
There’s no harm in going over.
There is no one best way to get your input from veggies and fruit.
Whichever way you get it is fine; frozen, cooked, salad, raw – it doesn’t matter – just eat it!
14 Units of Alcohol a week
Men should be looking at keeping their alcohol consumption to less than 14 units of alcohol a week.
As a reminder, here is what is in one drink:
- Medium glass of wine (175mls) is 2 units
- Large glass of wine (250mLs) is 3 units
- Pint of lager is 2.3 units
- Pint of cider 4.7 units
- Spirit (30mLs) and a mixer 1.5 units
Having a bottle of wine or 6 pints a week should bring you to 14 units.
It’s also worth noting that alcohol is a depressant.
The ‘relaxing pint’ after a tough day is not the thing that eases you, it’s the company or removing yourself form the stressful situation.
If you are feeling tense, go and hang out with someone else and talk to them or go for a walk or see a film.
If you find that you are often stressed and turning to booze, see your GP and come up with a health plan.
Set the steps in place early.
Get in touch if you want to talk about what your plan covers before you talk to your doctor.
Normal Blood Pressure is 120/180
We can’t recommend going in for yearly health checks enough.
Your doctor will take down all of your stats and then you have a standard that you can keep measuring against.
This is vital when it comes to tracking and maintaining optimal health.
Your doctor will take your blood pressure as part of this check-up and you will want to make sure that you are sitting nowhere higher than the figure above.
Check with one of our teams today to see if you have a health check included your benefits.
If you don’t, talk to us about getting them included. You’ll thank yourself.
75 percent of suicides are by men
We want to make sure that your mental health is being well looked after.
Living away from your usual support networks in a different country can be emotionally challenging which is why having mental health care benefits as part of your policy is so important.
Call us today just to make sure that your policy is up to speed here.
If you aren’t feeling like yourself, talk to someone; a friend, a colleague or your family.
IMC Health have a great team of practitioners on staff and mental health care professionals that they can recommend.
You can also call the Samaritans of Singapore 24 hours a day on 1800 221 4444 if you need to.
If you would like us to go over any of these points with you, call us today and one of our team would be happy to help.
Remember these numbers this week and let us know what we can do to help you achieve them.
If you would like a copy of this in a PDF just click here and download.
