Warning: hard-living heroes are bad for men's health POLL: CHARACTER

IT may seem like an unlikely line up - Indiana Jones, Homer Simpson, James Bond and Sherlock Holmes - but these characters are being held up as examples of men who fail to look after their health.

A poll is putting 10 fictional men on 'trial' charged with crimes against their own health, to mark the beginning of Men's Health Week. Organisers hope the tongue-in-cheek survey will highlight serious issues around men's health, such as whether the NHS is doing enough to encourage them to come forward for medical help.

Among the candidates are David Brent, the cringeworthy manager in The Office, who is singled out for his hyperactive, workaholic attitude.

Womanising spy James Bond is in the dock for his love of vodka martinis and frequent unprotected sex. And while adventurer Indiana Jones recently returned to the big screen after a gap of 20 years, he is picked for his excessive risk-taking in a constant search for something he can never find - as well as "shocking" care of his ageing joints.

The poll is running on the Men's Health Forum website - www. menshealthforum. org. uk - with the results due to be announced tomorrow.

Chief executive Peter Baker said it was aimed at encouraging discussion about why men's health is so poor, in an innovative way.

"We are accusing men of grievous bodily harm against themselves because of their reckless lifestyles, " he said. "We are putting them on trial to see whether they are guilty of that or not and whether it is their fault they have poor health."

Figures published last year show life expectancy at birth in Scotland was 74.6 years for men, compared to 79.6 years in women. However that gap is closing, having dropped from 5.7 years to five years over the past decade.

But there were also huge variations according to area: the highest male life expectancy was in East Dunbartonshire at 78.0 years, but this fell to 70.5 years in Glasgow city.

Baker said while men need to do more to look after themselves, there were other factors influencing their health and attitudes over which they had no control - for example, the way in which they were brought up, or genetic factors.

"The health system in general has also not been very good at reaching out to men and actually providing services that men feel more comfortable about using, " he said. "We now have a lot of evidence that men do care about their health and will use health services if they are provided in a different way."

One of the main focuses of the health week will be on men and work, highlighting issues such as how to tackle stress, as well as the benefits of introducing awareness programmes and health checks in workplaces.

In Scotland, a series of events has been organised, including a major conference on Wednesday to discuss topics including violence, mental health and sexual health, and the 10k run for men next Sunday, both in Glasgow.

Mark Ward, national coordinator of the Men's Health Forum Scotland, said around 3000 men had so far signed up for the 10k, with participants ranging from serious runners to those attempting it for the first time.

"Men's Health Week is certainly growing and we do everything we can to promote it as a focus during the year for men's health issues, " he added.

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