One man in five dies before the age of 65.
TOGETHER we can change that.

Kids' health crisis: Our boys are the shortest in the western world

19/06/24 . Blog

You might think that the news that microplastics have been found in men's penises is the men's health story of the week. And it is very alarming. It shows that the environment is very much a men's health issue.

However, arguably even more worrying is the report from the Food Foundation on the crisis in childhood health in the UK. It shows that:

  • The height of 5 year olds has been falling since 2013
  • Obesity among 10-11 year olds has increased by 30% since 2006
  • Type 2 diabetes among under 25s has increased by 22% in the past 5 years 
  • Babies born today will enjoy a year less good health than babies born a decade ago

The healthy life expectancy at birth for boys born today is now less than 62 and a half years. 

Little boys

And make no mistake, this is a UK problem that is not happening elsewhere and cannot be blamed on anyone else. 

Children in the UK are on average shorter than those in nearly all other high-income countries. Indeed, our five year old boys are the shortest. In the Netherlands, for example, children are as much as 7cm taller than those in the UK by age 5 - a significant and worrying difference at such a young age. Moreover, in the Netherlands, unlike in the UK, the height trend continues upwards. In other words, as the report puts it: 'this decline in the UK is not being seen everywhere'.

Professor of epidemiology and public health Michael Marmot, puts it very bluntly:

We used to think of the combination of undernutrition and obesity as a feature of low and middle income countries. We are now seeing it in Britain in 2024, a devastating effect of poverty. Over a century of history has led us to expect continuous improvements in health. Over the last dozen years that has changed. Healthy life expectancy has declined. Quite simply, people’s fundamental human needs are not being met.

The Food Foundation says it's time for 'visionary leaders' and challenges the UK's political parties to address this.

It's a salutary reminder that this election is about real people. Whatever you might think about our politicians and their antics in this election campaign. It is only politics that can solve this. (It's only politics that can remove those damn microplastics too!)

The Men’s Health Forum need your support

It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking.

In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to.

It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for.

We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing.

Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.

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Charity registered in England and Wales (no. 1087375). Company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no. 4142349).