Some aspects of motivating schoolchildren to leading a healthy lifestyle

Abstract

Introduction. The proportion of citizens leading a healthy lifestyle has been declining since 2019, despite the measures currently implemented. To improve the situation, it is necessary to develop specific effective measures to motivate and encourage citizens including children to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The purpose of the study was to investigate the components of the health-related aspect of the schoolchildren’s lifestyle during the study at school to develop proposals for improving the management of the formation of a healthy lifestyle for schoolchildren, in particular, motivation for a healthy lifestyle. Material and methods. The study was conducted on the base of a municipal educational institution — secondary school No. 8 with in-depth study of individual subjects of the urban district of Zhukovsky, Moscow Region. A total of six hundred fifty completed depersonalized (anonymous) questionnaires were collected. Results. Smoking and using nicotine-containing products by the majority of the family has been confirmed to have a negative impact on smoking and using such products by schoolchildren, which proves the obligation to take into account the family aspect in the development and implementation of health measures aimed at combating smoking and usage of nicotine-containing products. The most common violations of the principles of a healthy lifestyle among the respondents, the most popular channels for obtaining information about a healthy lifestyle and the methods preferred by respondents to encourage healthy lifestyles in the three study groups were identified. Limitations. When studying the components of the health-related aspect of the lifestyle of students of secondary school No. 8 with in-depth study of individual subjects of the urban district of Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, 650 questionnaires were evaluated, which is a sufficient reference sample. Conclusion. The obtained results allow not only to form an idea of the studied aspects of the schoolchildren’s lifestyle, but also serve as the basis for developing proposals for improving the organization of the formation of a healthy lifestyle for schoolchildren, in particular, motivation for a healthier lifestyle.