Students’ health level as a result of their lifestyle

Abstract

The aim: Is to study the level of knowledge, skills, abilities, and health indicators of students during the formation of their healthy lifestyle. Materials and methods: The research was conducted at Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University and Polissya National University in 2018-2020. Thus, 882 students (385 males and 497 females) of different specialties between the ages of 17 and 23 were examined. To assess the level of knowledge, skills, and abilities of students during the formation of a healthy lifestyle, a survey was conducted. The health level of students was assessed by the method of the qualitative express assessment of the physical health level, which made it possible to assess the dynamics of the quality of forming a healthy lifestyle. Results: It was found that only 5.7 % of male and 6.4 % of female students had a high level of knowledge of all the health components; only 7.0 % of male and 8.3 % of female students had a high level of knowledge about the factors of health formation and skills in using them both during training and future professional activity; 20.3 % of male and 14.7 % of female students did not have knowledge about the negative impact of bad habits on health; 19.3 % of male and 18.3 % of female students did not know the components of a healthy lifestyle at all; 17.9 % of male and 21.7 % of female students did not have motivational attitudes towards a healthy lifestyle and did not know how to form them. It was found that most of the indices of both male and female students that characterize the level of students’ health deteriorated significantly during their studies (р<0.05-0.001). Conclusions: The research showed that most students (both males and females) did not follow a healthy lifestyle. It was reflected in the low health level of most students and the negative dynamics of the indices that characterize the level of health in the process of studying. All this requires taking into account the features of forming a healthy lifestyle of students in physical education classes at higher education institutions.