COMMITMENT TO PHYSICAL EXERCISES AMONG STUDENTS WITH DIFFERENT SELF-ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH

Significance. Regular physical activity strengthens health and improves well-being, therefore, increasing commitment to physical activity among population is rather relevant. Students of medical universities will become guides to a healthy lifestyle for their future patients, which implies their commitment to regular physical activity. Personal interest in promoting health through physical exercises presumably depends upon the health status of students. Purpose: to analyze commitment to physical exercises among students with different self-assessment of health. Material and Methods. The analysis of 1732 questionnaires collected during the survey of students of the Kuban State Medical University was carried out. Responders included 25.7% of young males, 35.0% of the first-year students and 11.9% of the sixth-year students. The average age of males and females is the same (21.9 years). The analysis of commitment to physical exercises was carried out among all respondents in general and with a breakdown on gender, year in the University (first and sixth year students), health self-assessment (“good health and very good” and “bad health and very bad”), self-assessment of the concern for health (“I care a lot” and “I care little or not at all”), and presence of chronic diseases (yes/no). The Chi-square test was used to compare distribution of different opinions. Conclusion. Commitment to physical exercises among students is associated with health self-estimation rather than the state of health. The state of health increases motivation to exercise only among a small share of students with poor health. Awareness of the impact of physical activity on the risk of chronic diseases is not sufficient to increase commitment of the young people to exercise, sports or fitness. The highest impact on the commitment is made by the "fashion trend" for a healthy lifestyle. Students who define their state of health as good are more concerned about their health and significantly more often practice regular physical activity of high intensity. For young males with good health social contacts are more significant in physical exercises both in comparison with females who define their state of health as good and in comparison with young men with lower self-estimation of health. For students with low health self-estimation, the main incentive for physical activities, sports or fitness is the desire to look better. Doctor's recommendations are a twice more effective incentive for females compared to males.