Lesson 22: Mommy, what are testicles for?

I thought I'd open this up with a quick laugh, ergo the title of this post. My sister-in-law's sister's son asked her that question. I guess that's part of the joy of parenting--those unexpected questions.

I've had my dad's health on my mind for the past several weeks, and it made me think about how differently men and women approach their health care. Women know to perform their breast self exams, get pap smears and visit their doctors. Men, however, I've noticed, don't go to the doctor without prodding from the women in their lives. Knowing this, I decided to do a little research. This is what I came up with:

All info is from the CDC:

12% of men 18 years and over are in fair to poor health.
23% of men 18 years and over currently smoke.
31 % of men 18 years and over had 5 or more drinks in 1 day at least once in 2008.
32% of men 20 years and over are obese.
31% of men 20 years and over have high blood pressure.
18% of males under 65 years are without health insurance.

I'm saying this as a woman who cares about the men in her life. To all the men out there--please take care of yourselves! Visit your doctors, exercise regularly and maintain a healthy diet. I figure that if I ever get married and have a son, I'm going to tell my son at the right time what his testicles are for, how to take care of himself, the importance of going to doctors, and having health insurance. I once heard that no matter how smart, gorgeous, rich, or sweet a man is, somewhere out there, some woman is tired of his BS. But it's also true that no matter how stupid, ugly, poor or mean a man can be, somewhere out there, some woman is concerned about his health. So men, please LEAD HEALTHY LIFESTYLES. And if you don't do that, at least do this: LISTEN TO THE WOMEN WHO LOVE YOU!