THURSDAY, Sept. 7, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Most American men think they’re leading a healthy lifestyle, possibly picturing themselves as a Hollywood leading man type.

But their actual health habits are those of a schlubby sidekick, a brand new Cleveland Clinic survey reveals.

The national poll found that 4 out of 5 (81%) American men consider they’re leading a healthy lifestyle. But nearly half don’t get a yearly physical (44%) and don’t handle their mental health (44%), researchers found.

Only half said they follow a healthy food plan (51%), and a couple of quarter (27%) admit to being couch potatoes who watch TV greater than five hours a day, on average.

“What they found was that nearly all of men within the survey really felt like they were living a really healthy lifestyle,” said Dr. Raevti Bole, a urologist with the Center for Men’s Health within the Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute on the Cleveland Clinic. “But once you ask a few of those more specific questions and got them to give it some thought, they found that a few of those behaviors weren’t in alignment with what that they had initially considered how healthy their lifestyles were.”

Cleveland Clinic issued the survey as a part of its eighth annual MENtion It educational campaign. The campaign is supposed to attract attention to the proven fact that men often don’t mention health issues or take steps to stop them.

For instance, 83% of men said that they’ve experienced stress prior to now six months, the poll found.

Despite this, two out of three (65%) said they’re hesitant to hunt skilled help for mental health concerns corresponding to stress, anxiety and depression.

“It’s vital for men to acknowledge that stress is something everyone’s going through and that’s something that may affect them physically,” said Bole, who was not a part of the survey. “It could actually actually be related to different forms of physical health conditions, like [high] blood pressure and even development of diabetes or weight gain.

“Emotional health and mental health isn’t just something that’s in your head. It could actually affect physical parts of your health as well,” Bole continued.

One mental health expert also stressed the mind-body connection.

“In so some ways, men seem fascinated with their health, they go to the gym, they bulk up with their protein shakes, they maintain a mean, lean, protein-packed food plan,” said Jennifer Thompson, director of communications at Men’s Health Network. “In so many other ways, men are seemingly disillusioned, uninformed and absent of their consideration for his or her overall health.

“A person that’s having a tough time together with his mental health is less more likely to look after his surroundings, hygiene and overall health,” she explained. “A person that doesn’t give attention to eating right or going to the gym could fall into mental despair.

“The ties between mental acuity and physical fitness are further compounded from the resulting pandemic, a problem that has, in a positive way, delivered to light the ways men and boys are struggling deeply with the pressures and solitude,” Thompson added.

Not only that, however the disconnect between perceived health and actual lifestyle likely worsens as men age, Bole said.

“Life happens slowly, you understand,” Bole said. “Because the way in which that life just happens, you don’t get to even serious about a few of these specific things until someone asks you.

“I feel as guys grow old, they don’t necessarily consider a symptom they’re having as being an indication of a disease or they don’t necessarily think that changes that they’ve made to their lifestyle are necessarily causing problems,” Bole said. “So, perhaps the symptoms that they’re having or the lifestyles that they’re living are so gradual that they don’t necessarily feel like they’re going right into a form of situation that’s going to cause issues.”

That’s why it’s vitally vital for men to get an annual checkup, Bole said.

Beyond prompting a rethink of their lifestyle, a checkup also provides a likelihood for vital screenings to catch and treat chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension and even cancer.

Only about half of American men have been screened for common cancers, including prostate, colon, skin, testicular and bladder, the survey found.

“It’s pretty difficult as just an everyday one who’s not within the medical field to recollect what age to get what screening,” Bole said. “That’s why it’s really vital to go to that annual and get that screening, because a health care skilled goes to handle that for you, goes to recollect based in your age and your risk category, family history, what you’re due for and when.”

So, the right way to get men to recollect to handle themselves?

Well, they’re men, noted Bole — so sex is perhaps the reply.

Multiple out of each three American men (37%) have experienced issues related to sexual health, the survey found. Nevertheless, only two in five of those men have sought skilled health.

“Many, many guys are concerned about sexual wellness and sexual health,” Bole said. “I feel one approach to get guys invested in preventative care is to speak about it when it comes to things which can be vital to them, like sexual health.

“You possibly can sort of tie in, well, these are the ways through which getting your annual checkup and managing your condition might actually help your sexual health and forestall a few of these common sexual concerns,” Bole continued. “That is perhaps enough to get guys to go and get checked out.”

Other findings of note from the survey included:

• Fathers usually tend to declare they live a healthy lifestyle (87%) than non-parents (80%).
• Men spend a mean 2.3 hours every day scrolling social media.
• Those men hesitant to hunt skilled health for mental health issues are almost twice as more likely to spend 5 or more hours each day on social media.
• 54% of American men should not satisfied with their current weight, and 50% declare they’re actively working on achieving their goal weight.
• Only about half (56%) of men realize that drinking may affect sexual health, and even fewer (43%) are aware of the negative sexual impact of smoking.
• Stress is probably the most commonly mentioned factor impacting sexual health (68%). Age (65%) and excessive weight (61%) follow closely.

The web survey involved a national sample of 1,000 American males 18 and older living within the continental United States. It was conducted between June 1 and June 13.

The whole male sample surveyed was nationally representative, and the margin of error for the full sample on the 95% confidence level is +/- 3.1 percentage points.

More information

HealthDay has more about essential men’s health screenings.

SOURCES: Raevti Bole, MD, urologist, Center for Men’s Health, Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio; Jennifer Thompson, director, communications, Men’s Health Network; Cleveland Clinic, news release and survey, Sept. 6, 2023