AIBU to think we should treat our health like we treat our finances.. proactively?

[HonestOP]

Lately I’ve realised something.
We’re told to “plan our finances” and “think ahead”… but when it comes to health, everyone (including me) waits until things get bad.
Is this just because NHS waits have trained us to “hold on” for as long as possible?
Genuinely curious if anyone here is taking a more proactive approach to their health now. Or is everyone still just reacting when things get unbearable?

Eating proper food is the start of that. So many people just seem to exist on processed crap. And that’s where ill health often starts.
But also let’s be realistic - the NHS is barely capable of handling acute conditions & injury, let alone preventative care.
And so many people are living in poverty, which has terrible health outcomes, and there is nothing they can do about it.

Most don't plan ahead financially either... you're not wrong though.

I’m very healthy. Not a great financial planner. I just fill up my cash isa every year and leave the rest in a high interest bank account.

Ya, I work on my health. I've seen both of my parents suffer terribly because they didn't look after themselves (smoking, drinking, underweight) leading to cancer and osteoporosis. I'm better at working on my health than on my finances. I exercise and am pretty disciplined about what I eat (lots of fresh food, veggies, fibre) and get my bloods checked once a year. I'm surprised other people don't but perhaps they haven't had the experience of watching people close to them be really punished by preventable illnesses (neither cancer nor osteoporosis are completely preventable, but in both my parents cases, lifestyle factors definitely drove how early and how bad it was.)

I think a lot of people are time poor, money poor & stressed which tends to result in unhealthy behaviour.

The NHS isn’t great for chronic conditions.

I've been planning for old age health since my late 20's, I'm in my 50's now. Pension is rubbish but I've paid off my mortgage so I'm hoping I'll wing it. I hope to move to a suitable house for old age before I'm 60.

Some people don't seem to realise their health can go to shit when they hit their late 40's. Better to get as fit as possible so it's easier to deal with anything that goes wrong.

I do think there is a narrative though particularly among young people that being healthy will protect you from ill health which isn’t true. Not everything is caused by eating & drinking too much & not getting enough exercise.

So - yes. And most of that practically for us is diet, exercise etc.

The NHS is not able to provide any depth of preventative healthcare IMO. The service just doesn’t exist - I think with conditions like cancer you are in good hands, but most non immediately life threatening conditions there doesn’t seem to be much help for.

Thats why so many people are turning to private healthcare.

This!

Most of Europe has a preventative mentality. I have a Belgium friend who goes back to Belgium once a year to see his GP for a full MOT on the public health system because they are of the opinion the prevention is better than you.