10 Reasons Why Men Die Younger than Women

Demographic data has over many years displayed a trend that is rather disturbing. For those who care to look, statistics have been churned out by WHO, UN, American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and among others, The National Research Council (USA) that suggest that men die younger than women. See the following life expectancy figures between men and women in various nations spread out in our seven continents.

As will be observed, women tend to have a lower mortality rate when compared with men. The organizations above report that the present world mortality rate is at an average of 75 years for both sexes. However, this tends to vary with each continent and individual nation. The averages are approximately as follows:

These statistics vary with time as general health care improves all over the world. Data shows that Japanese live longer than other people in the world but compare well with those in Europe, while men’s expectancy in Australia exceeds the one in Japan. Japanese men expect to live for 76.3 years while women live 82.5years on average, 6.2 years longer than their male counterparts. French women come second with 80.9 years.

Life in Africa is still precarious with many issues preying upon the average African life experiences. However, recent reports indicate that life expectancy in Africa has greatly improved by 40% while the same expectancy continues to recede in other parts of the developed world. This is mainly attributed to improved health care and nutrition.

Our daily feeding habits and general behavior have been targeted as the main culprits with regard to our health. Some of the habits upon which we blame our early deaths include;

i) Poor Eating habits: It is a well-known fact that women feed better than men. Some of their feeding is done in between meals. They are also more likely to have three square meals compared to their male counterparts who often skip their meals. We might attribute their need to feed upon their maternal instincts and the baby’s needs.

Advice to men; Men should try to eat regularly. Three balanced meals at the right time might just add a few more days to your life span.

ii) Poor Dietary Habits: Poor feeding habits make us to ingest wrong types of foods in abundance resulting in nutritional deficiencies. When continued for long, ailments usually set in.

Advice to men; Instead of drinking and smoking during the day, men should try fruits like oranges, bananas, apples or water melons to fill in where they underfeed.

iii) Overdrinking. The popular drinking binges among men have a negative effect upon their appetite with their inherent toll on health. Alcohol tends to dehydrate the body.

Advice to men; Stop or minimize your drinking. If not possible, then eat very well prior to drinking and avoid over indulging.

iv) Smoking: Data reveals that smoking can lead to cancer, lung and throat infections, coronary heart diseases which could bring about one’s demise. It has been reported that smoking-related deaths cost the US government $92 billion a year as is evidenced by Wrong Diagnosis.com. This is staggering by any standards.

Advice to men; Research shows that each cigarette you smoke truncates a few hours from your life span. Quit smoking altogether. Your mouth will smell better too.

v) Extravagant Displays of Machismo e.g.: My car can really move, Check my motorbike, and See what I can do. We like driving with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the window, in moves that exaggerate our masculinity in order to impress. No wonder insurance companies seem to think men are more risky than women where security and repayment of loans are concerned.

Advice to men; Be careful in whatever you do. Always try to remember there is a family or people who care about your welfare behind you. You don’t want to leave them miserable. Do you? Try to preserve yourself. Ladies always have this sense of preservation at the back of their minds.

vi) Limited Household Responsibilities: This applies to men who end up lazing about while their wives take on household chores. Women sharpen their skills and are more physically alert and apt in responding to family needs, making them fit. Breakfast in the house is more likely to be prepared by the lady in the house than the man, of course except during honeymoon days. Otherwise the man’s honeymoon never seems to end thereafter.

Advice to men; Cut that honeymoon. Women could do with a little more of masculine assistance in the house. It is your house after all. It doesn’t make you less of a man to assist. Take a jog if she doesn’t allow you to give a hand. But I bet, most ladies will gladly welcome your assistance.

vii) Extra-marital Affairs: A good proportion of men love an extra mistress here and there, which comes at great cost, not to mention financial, physical, psychological and social among others. A man with one wife or girlfriend (for those who are yet to marry) is usually less mixed up compared to those with more than one.

Advice to men; Avoid extra-marital affairs. It eliminates unnecessary emotions that arise from such relationships. Somebody said "A bird at hand makes enough of a mess in your hand that keeps your days busy". No pun intended here for my dear sweet ladies. You now know men can’t do without you and that you should take better care of them.

viii) Insomnia: Our tendency to overwork often leads to fatigue. Men rarely take a nap and also suffer more from insomnia than women. "Late to bed and early to rise" seems to be a common habit among men. The Japanese are early to bed and early to rise for work, which makes them healthy and wealthy and wise. The old song might be full of the wisdom we so desperately need. It is reported that men with insomnia have a four-fold higher death rate than those without as evidenced by the National Geographic magazine.

Advice to men; Have enough sleep each day. Eight hours are highly recommended by experts. Try to sleep early too. Trust me, she will appreciate it too.

ix) Pent up Emotions: Men often hide behind the platitude “Men don’t cry”. They hide their feelings and emotions to appear to be more masculine and less feminine. A show of weakness is quickly met with a sharp rebuke from women and men alike, which compels you to be man enough. Stress tends to build up in their systems and explodes for lack of outlets to the effect that too much stress can kill You.

Advice to men; Avoid quarrelling. Solve issues amicably. Cry if you can. Share your emotions with your spouse or friend. Sleep not upon your anger. I know the effects of testosterone in men and how it makes them feel more self-reliant. Put this behind you and at least talk to someone you trust to vent your emotions. Don’t keep deep emotions to yourself. There are fires created in the inside of you that could destroy you if not shared. Ladies seem to consciously or otherwise, know this better than men. No wonder, they live longer.

x) Less Divine Intervention: Women are more prone to seek help from above compared to men, to the effect that there tends to be more women in our churches than men. I don’t know whether men feel rather too secure to seek for help, or maybe they don’t know there is help one can get from their creator.

Advice to men; Go to church. Show some respect to your creator. Who knows? You might just live longer than you expect. See the conclusion in the hub “The Secret to Long Life”.

The advice given above can greatly contribute to men’s wellbeing towards preventing the emergence of the eleventh reason for our demise. I wish my fellow men a long happy life.