Looking at the statistics, the picture is clear: Danish women live longer than men by three to five years.

But while this difference is mostly attributed to lifestyle choices, there is another important factor to consider: young men, aged 15-25, are three times more likely to die than their female counterparts.

A tragedy that could be avoided
“The tragedy is that it does not have to be this way,” Svend Aage Madsen, the chief psychologist at Rigshospital,  told DR.

“If men took better care of themselves, and if the healthcare system was better equipped at helping them, men could live longer.”

Young Danish men die more frequently than women mainly due to accidents.

“It is not just traffic accidents that kills them. A lot of fatalities happen in traditional male jobs. Men fall from scaffolds or have machinery accidents,”  explained Madsen.

Bad at listening to their bodies
Among men and women aged 15 to 25 years, it is mostly the men who die of cardiovascular disease or commit suicide. They are also 50 percent more likely to die of cancer, normally due to a late diagnosis.

To raise awareness of the issue, a Men’s Health Week campaign is running from June 8-14, with various events being held across the country.