Download: Obesity and Work: Challenging stigma and discrimination

How does our Food Environment affect us?

This is an excellent paper written which shows how the Food System itself plays a major part in the prevention and treatment of Obesity.

Download File

Silver bullet or sticking plaster? Weight-loss drugs and the UK's obesity crisis.

Men’s Health. What does Wes Streeting have to say:Ministerial foreword

It can be tough to be a man in today’s society.

Mental ill health is on the rise, preventable killers such as heart disease and prostate cancer are being caught far too late, and most shocking of all, suicide remains the leading cause of death of men under 50.

At the same time, lots of boys - particularly those from working class backgrounds like mine - are being led astray by a proliferation of harmful influences and left feeling isolated and confused by the bombardment of conflicting messages about what it means to be a man.

We also know that men can be less likely to seek help and more likely to suffer in silence. This, combined with a higher propensity to smoke, drink and use drugs, all adds up to a crisis in men’s health that ripples through families, workplaces and communities.

Healthy life expectancy for men has reduced by one and a half years in the last decade. It is a warning siren we can no longer ignore.

This first-ever Men’s Health Strategy for England is our response. The result of listening to the voices of men, experts, men’s groups, charities, campaigners and partners, it not only shines a light on the fact that men’s health has been neglected for too long, it sets us up to tackle the injustices and inequalities they face.

Our strategy is designed to encourage men to take charge of their physical health and mental wellbeing. First, by expanding access to support services; second, by helping them to take better care of themselves; and third, by ensuring stigma is challenged and every man feels empowered to reach out for help.

It is no surprise that stark inequalities exist among men when it comes to ill health.

Poverty and deprivation are big factors driving unequal outcomes. Men in the most deprived areas die 10 years earlier and live nearly 19 fewer years in good health, on average, than those in the wealthiest areas. There are also alarming racial and ethnic inequalities, which mean, for example, that deaths from diabetes and heart attacks are typically highest among South Asian men.

We cannot achieve good health for all men without focusing on those who need it most.

Society has been slow to wake up to the fact that a lot of men and boys are really struggling and I am grateful to all those who have picked up this agenda and forced it into the mainstream.

This strategy is a crucial first step, laying the foundation from which we can learn, iterate and grow. It supports the government’s overarching ambition to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions, while increasing it for everyone. It will also contribute to our broader missions on economic growth, safer streets and opportunity.

The success of men’s health strategies in Australia and Ireland show us what’s possible. We are also inspired by the progress made in women’s health, knowing what happens when we listen, learn and act together. While there is still more to do there, the same determination and focus must now be brought to men’s health. But nothing frustrates me more than when men’s and women’s health are pitted against each other. As if by focusing on one, we’re detracting from the other. This is not an either or. Improving the health and wellbeing of men and women are complementary objectives because we will only succeed as a society if we make life better for all.

This strategy is not just a plan, it is a call to action: to create a society where men and boys are supported to live longer, healthier and happier lives; where stigma is replaced by understanding; and where every man knows that his health matters.

Wes Streeting

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

Men’s Health NHS strategy

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