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While many Canadians understand the impact of mental and workplace health on their overall well being, we often overlook our sexual health. However, good sexual health is a key component of good health. Like good nutrition, clean water and safe environments, feeling positive about ourselves as sexual beings is necessary in order to live healthy lives.

Many discussions of sexual and reproductive health focus on negative aspects, such as sexually transmitted diseases and the costs of unintended pregnancies. However, good sexual health is more than staying free from illness or problems. Good sexual health includes knowing how we feel about our bodies and what gives us pleasure, whether with a partner or alone. It also includes having a sense of what kind of relationships are worthwhile to us and of the importance of intimacy and closeness. We are all sexual beings from the moment we are born whether we are single or with a partner, sexually active or refraining from sexual activity, whether we are attracted to members of the opposite or the same sex, whether we are male or female, whatever our backgrounds, beliefs or religious upbringing.

Staying sexually healthy is an ongoing process. Often, we have different concerns depending on where we are in our lives. One of the best ways to address those concerns is to get factual, objective information so that we can make decisions that best fit our beliefs, values and goals.

For example:

• Children are often curious about their bodies from an early age. Teaching them the correct name for their body parts (including their genitals) as well as age appropriate information about sexual health will allow them to grow up with pride in themselves and their bodies.
• Adolescence is a time of great change. Bodies are becoming more mature, roles are changing, and many teens have questions about what is happening to them. Girls may start to develop breasts and wonder if they are 'normal' especially if their classmates are at different stages in their development. Boys may start to hear their voices crack or start to develop hair on their faces. Young people may also start to think about becoming sexually active or may feel pressured to do so. Some teens may also start to question their sexuality and who they are attracted to.
• Later on in life, questions about pleasure, sexual relationships along with questions about fertility may start to emerge. Some people may think about planning a pregnancy while others may be dealing with an unintended pregnancy. Some people will be using birth control while still more may be practicing safer sex. All Canadians will need to continue to work to maintain their sexual and reproductive health through regular self exams (breast self-exams for women and testicular self exams for men). Yearly visits to a health care professional may include routine Pap smears for women.
• In our senior years, there can be the belief that we become less sexual. This is a myth! For many people, sexual enjoyment increases in later life as the stresses of work and family start to decrease. While men and women both undergo physical changes as a result of aging, sexual desire can be a constant. Both men and women will want to continue to visit their health care professionals yearly to monitor changes that are a result of decreasing hormone levels.

To find out more about sexual and reproductive health, check out the following links:

Pregnancy and prenatal health:
Best Start
DES Action Canada
Motherisk

Infertility:
Infertility Awareness Association of Canada
Infertility Network

Healthy Sexuality:
Planned Parenthood Metro Clinic
Sexuality Education Resource Centre
Sexuality Information Education Council of Canada

Birth Control and Options:
Calgary Birth Control Clinic
Planned Parenthood Ottawa
Newfoundland and Labrador Sexual Health Centre

Sexual Orientation:
The Centre
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Youth Project
Rainbow Resource Centre

Talking About Sexual Health:
How Do I Talk to My Child About Sex?
Raising Sexually Healthy Children