Every June, we recognize Men’s Health Month, a national observance dedicated to raising awareness about the health issues that affect men and boys. Men’s Health Month 2020 asked men to take that seriously in the middle of a pandemic, encouraging preventive action instead of waiting until something goes wrong. If that describes most of the men you know, including yourself, you’re not alone, and that’s exactly why this observance exists in the first place.
Men’s Health Month 2020: Recognized Nationally Since 1994
Men’s Health Month was established by the Men’s Health Network, and the legislation creating the observance was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on May 31, 1994. It grew out of National Men’s Health Week, first observed the week of June 12 through 19, 1994, and it’s still recognized every year as the week leading up to Father’s Day. That first observance in 1994 was built around a simple idea: men needed a dedicated, visible reminder to take their own health seriously, instead of a passing mention buried inside a general health campaign aimed at everyone.
This particular Men’s Health Month landed in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Men’s Health Network used it to push a straightforward message: men were dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than women, and taking the virus seriously, washing hands, wearing a mask, and practicing social distancing, was itself a men’s health issue. That message mattered because early data out of hospitals across the country was already showing men being hospitalized and dying from the virus at meaningfully higher rates than women, even after accounting for other risk factors.
One of the most visible parts of Men’s Health Month is Wear BLUE Day, which always falls on the Friday before Father’s Day. In 2020 that was June 19th, and the Men’s Health Network asked men, along with the people who love them, to wear blue and share it under #ShowUsYourBlue, a simple, visible way of saying that men’s health is worth talking about out loud instead of quietly ignoring. It’s a small, low-effort action, but the whole point is that it doesn’t take much to start a conversation that a lot of men would otherwise never have on their own.
I bring this up every June because most men still treat their own health the way they treat a warning light on the dashboard: something to deal with later, once it becomes impossible to ignore. Men’s Health Month exists because that pattern has real consequences. Men are statistically less likely than women to see a doctor for a routine physical, more likely to delay treatment when something feels wrong, and more likely to die from conditions that are treatable when they’re caught early. None of that is a character flaw. It’s a pattern, and like most patterns, it can be interrupted once you have the right support in place.
That pattern usually isn’t about missing information. Most men already know they should get their blood pressure checked or talk to someone when they’re struggling. What’s usually missing is a real reason to actually do it, and a plan that fits into a life that’s already full of work, family, and everything else competing for attention. Knowing what you should do and actually building a routine around it are two completely different things, and the gap between them is where most men get stuck year after year.
That’s exactly the gap coaching is built to close. If Men’s Health Month has you thinking about your own health, whether that’s your body, your stress levels, or the parts of your life you’ve been putting off dealing with, Contact me and let’s talk about what a plan built around your actual life could look like, instead of a generic checklist you’ll abandon in two weeks.
You can read more about the history of Men’s Health Month and Wear BLUE Day at menshealthmonth.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Men’s Health Month?
Men’s Health Month is a national observance every June dedicated to raising awareness about the health issues that affect men and boys and encouraging preventive care.
Why did Men’s Health Month 2020 focus on preventive action?
It fell in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, a moment when preventive health took on new urgency and many men were already delaying routine care.
Why do so many men wait until something goes wrong to see a doctor?
It’s a common pattern rooted in the idea that seeking care is only necessary in a crisis — Men’s Health Month exists specifically to push back on that mindset before it costs something.
