Do health when you are Young
On the final day of Ag Mental Health Week John McNamara, Teagasc Health & Safety Specialist looks at the health priorities of young farmers & advises that the younger the age that you start adopting health gain practices the better. He discusses Irish research in the last of his four articles
Sustainability and Health
Irish research indicates that farmers classified as ‘young’, under 45 years old, generally give their health low priority and only take health-promoting activities on-board in later life. For instance, the study shows that farmers aged 45 or older engage in health screening at a 3.1 times higher level than those aged under aged 45. Smoking and alcohol use are 4.3 and 2.7 times higher for younger farmers than the older cohort is. Also, the older farmer cohort report having 6.3 times more arthritis, which is associated with the ‘wear and tear’ of farming from a younger age. Maintenance of health including mental health is substantially based on a person’s health behaviours and should be a long- term goal. The younger age that you start adopting health gain practices the better.
A copy of the study ‘Sustainability and Health’ is available at:
Farmers health for sustainable farming (PDF)
See the first, second and third articles in this series here:
- It's Ag Mental Health Week 2021 about Research on Farmer Health Signposting.
- Don’t feel Impregnable - look after your Health
- Securing Positive Mental Health in Farming
Read lots more here from Teagasc on Farmer Health
Check out the hashtags #AgMentalHealthWeek and #itsgoodtotalk and the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Agmentalhealthweek/ for events taking place this week.