New Zealand men are being urged to treat their health more like their car in a new Cancer Society campaign.
The Men's Health Challenge, launched to coincide with Father's Day yesterday, aims to encourage men to invest in their health.
Cancer Society chief executive Dalton Kelly said men were more likely to die from preventable diseases than women and he hoped the campaign would promote regular health check ups.
"Most men take their car in for an annual service, but they don't extend that commonsense to their own bodies," he said.
"It's a very small investment to make in their health and it could save their lives."
A recent survey by the society showed one in three men over 50 never discussed cancer risks with their family doctor, and Mr Kelly said that highlighted the urgent need to change men's attitudes towards their own health .
Men tended to bury their heads in the sand when they noticed something that could be a sign of sickness and hope that whatever it was would just go away, Mr Kelly said.
"It's hugely ironic, and very unfortunate, that it's the initial head-in-the-sand period when the real damage is done."