His health food and her lap blanket

When do you tend to think about your health?

In the Wellness 10,000-Person Survey, the most common response was "when I've had prolonged sleep deprivation." While this ranking holds true regardless of age or gender, breaking it down by gender reveals some differences. For men, scores were higher than the overall average for items like "when hungover," "none of the listed options," and "when lifestyle disease signs were pointed out during a health checkup." For women, distinctive items included "when constipated," "when pants or skirts that used to fit feel tight," and "when seeing someone older who looks younger."

Thinking about it, these results seem quite understandable. While wellness needs exist regardless of gender, the specific moments and issues that concern men and women differ. In Part 3, we'll explore "health awareness" and "troublesome symptoms," areas where gender differences are particularly pronounced due to biological mechanisms.

Looking at the survey results for all participants, the top two symptoms causing daily distress are "eye strain" and "stiffness in the shoulders and neck," selected by about one in three people. Many attribute this to daily work, suggesting the frequent use of electronic tools like computers may be a factor.

What happens when we rank these by gender?
For men, concerns like "high triglycerides," "high blood pressure," "none at all," and "excess visceral fat" ranked high. For women, concerns like "age spots/freckles," "gray hair," "skin aging," "cold sensitivity," "constipation," and "headaches" were prominent. In short, men tend to worry more about issues related to "lifestyle disease risk factors," while women tend to worry more about issues related to "aging" and "discomfort."

Fundamentally, women tend to be more health-conscious than men. This may be due to monthly menstrual cycles that bring physical changes, increasing awareness of health, and the central role women often play in childbirth, childcare, and caregiving, which necessitates health management.

Dentsu Inc. Wellness Project identifies "whole-body fatigue/lethargy" and "skin roughness" as examples of this trend. The common thread is that the causes are complex or unclear even to the individuals themselves. Since these issues aren't severe enough to warrant a hospital visit, solutions are sought through readily available products and services.

What do you think? Do you understand why that man loves Tokuho products, or why that woman never leaves her lap blanket behind? Finally, a small note: The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare aims to increase the percentage of people who, as part of the National Health Promotion Campaign, "eat at least one proper meal a day, enjoyably with family or others (at least two people), taking over 30 minutes." I often see people who are so busy they've developed a habit of eating quickly. But everyone, do you put down your chopsticks during meals? When you have time, please try being mindful of your chopsticks. It's not exactly a 'break from eating,' but it might just give you some mental breathing room.