More women more than men visit Watkins Health Center

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

When Javier Portillo left Watkins Memorial Health Center two months ago, he left worry-free, with a clean bill of health.

Portillo, Paraguay senior, said he routinely visited Watkins for check-ups. But Portillo may be one of the few male students who visited the doctor.

According to recent data from Watkins, more women than men made appointments to visit Watkins during the past 12 months. According to the data, women made 44,000 appointments at Watkins during the past year, while men made 24,000 appointments.

Patty Quinlan, a nurse supervisor at Watkins, said birth control pills were the main reason female students went to Watkins, while many went in for annual wellness check-ups as well.

“For men, there has to be an incentive,” Quinlan said. “If it doesn’t hurt or there’s no change, then there’s no reason to come in.”

Portillo said that his parents regularly made him go. But Portillo said he thought there might be reasons men don’t want to go to the doctor.

“We always feel like we’re invincible,” Portillo said. “We think ‘I’m a man’ type of thing.”

Molly Khan, Rochester, Minn., senior, said she went to the doctor four or five months ago for her yearly check-up, because she was concerned about her health.

“The way women are raised is to be more in tuned with their bodies, while men are taught to be strong,” Khan said. “Men are less willing to admit something is wrong.”

Myra Strother, staff physician at Watkins, said the reason women came in more was because they were more open about health concerns than men.

“Men are not comfortable talking about things like stress and anxiety,” Strother said.

She said men didn’t focus on future health issues like high blood pressure.

Strother said she wanted to see all students regularly. She said when students did come in she tried to get as much information about the student’s lifestyle as she could, becase Watkins’ goal was to inform students on ways to lead healthy lifestyles.

“College is more of a marathon than it is a sprint,” Strother said. “Students should put health first. If they don’t, they may not make it through the school year.”

One health case that Strother said has become more common among KU students is metabolic syndrome, which includes high blood pressure, high sugar level and cardio vascular problems. In addition, a study conducted by Strother and other medical researchers showed obesity had increased among college students.

Strother said diseases like metabolic syndrome were affected by students’ lifestyles. She said smoking, alcohol, lack of exercise and unhealthy eating would cause problems in the future.

Portilla said he thought that the American culture played a role in healthy living.

“We are altering life. Everything is fast pace, fast food and fast everything,” he said.

— Edited by Rustin Dodd

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