MUCH as one might want to embrace the notion of eternal youth, things just aren’t quite the same when you get into your 40s.

Levels of fitness vary a lot and, while genetics are important, one way or another, this is the time when things can start to catch up with you.

We expect a lot from our bodies and you can get away with a lot in your 20s and even well into your 30s. But by the time you hit your 40s things begin to change. Once you could party all night on a few hours’ sleep. Now a sleepless night, more likely caused by kids rather than festivities, takes a week to get over. Recovery from colds and flu and from injuries also seems to take longer than before.

There are also more day-to-day pressures, especially through the demands of family life. More often than not, you find yourself spinning the hamster wheel, especially as parents rightly focused on the needs of children and others, but neglecting one’s own health and wellbeing.

This can be a real trap, especially as you get older. No longer can you take good health and fitness for granted, but – for many of us – as we hit middle age and juggle the demands of family life, we often defer things such as visits to the doctor for medical check-ups, appointments with the dentist, physio or dietitian. All too easily, these things end up at the bottom of a long to-do list, always on the agenda for next week or next month.

So, it was a good thing last week when my husband and I got a letter from the Federal Department of Human Services that, in marvellous bureaucratic language, gently reminded us to have a health check-up. It wasn’t anything personal. The Department had obviously been data mining and we presumably now fit a particular age group and demographic.

But prevention is better than cure. Making time for doctors’ appointments, other check-ups, winter flu shots, exercise and a good diet gets all the more important as one slides into middle age.

While you can’t stop ageing, you can take the time to keep things running smoothly without too many unexpected dramas.