It's #HOGstache for Men's Health

The third annual #HOGstache campaign promoting men's health awareness gets underway this week.

The #HOGstache campaign unfolds on social media, but there are events taking place that students, faculty and staff can participate in during the month of November. National campaigns around men's health celebrated this month are No Shave November and the Movember Movement.

"We encourage men to take part by not shaving this month and posting their photos through social media using #HOGstache," said Breanna Tidwell, graduate assistant for student affairs.

"Anyone can follow us on Instagram or Twitter @UA4Student. We are promoting campus events, posting trivia questions, health tips and giving away new #HOGstache T-shirts. Just follow us and you can be informed and win!"

There will be several photo booth opportunities the first week of November in the Arkansas Union.

Today, Nov. 2 and Tuesday, Nov. 3 from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. there will be a photo booth in the Living Room of the Arkansas Union for students to take "selfies" with HOGstaches. A special guest mascot is also scheduled to make an appearance to pose with students at this "selfie" booth on Monday. There will also be free #HOGstache T-shirts.

University Programs is joining with SOOIE, RIC, SAAC, UREC, and the Division of Student Affairs to bring Men's Health Awareness Day to campus from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, in the Union International Connections Lounge. University Programs will have a flipbook photo booth at the events. Students will be given 10-20 seconds to take a series of photo booth pictures with red mustaches and signs that will be made into a flip book for them to keep. There will be free healthy snacks including fruit, yogurt, and hummus with pita chips, snack mix, bagels, turkey pinwheels and vegetarian Mexican pinwheels. There will also be coffee, orange juice, iced tea, and water. There will also be information tables about men's health and how to make healthy decisions. The first fifty students to attend will get a free #HOGstache T-shirt. Come out to support men's health awareness!

While the campaign promotes having fun with facial hair, the real purpose is to raise awareness of men's health issues.

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in boys and men between the ages of 15 and 35; more than 8,000 men will be diagnosed and 380 will die in 2015 alone. About 233,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 29,000 men will die from the disease in 2015. It's estimated that 2,240 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point. More than 400 men will die from breast cancer in 2015. These are very treatable forms of cancer but survival depends on awareness and early detection. Cancer is not the only health issue men need to be aware of: an estimated 13 million men over the age of 20 have diabetes; men who are inactive have increased rates of diabetes and heart disease; men also are vulnerable to mental health issues, such as stress, anxiety and depression.