Schoolchildren’s Health Preservation Habitus: From the Family Model to the National One

Introduction. The family forms the habitus of the child's health-preserving behavior: the presence or absence of bad habits, involvement in sports, food preferences, and the attitude to disease prevention. The article, based on the conducted research, identifies the dependence of various parameters of the health of school-age children on the socio-biological well-being of the family, its lifestyle, life support conditions that contribute to the implementation of family health-preserving practices. Materials and Methods. The research materials used were the data from a survey conducted in 2019 by the Center for Family and Demography Center of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences among parents of students of lyceums, grammar schools, and general education schools, including those with in-depth study of specific subjects (city of Kazan, Arsk and Chistopol municipal districts of the Republic of Tatarstan). The total population of parents of students was 433,706 people, the selection was 325 people. The value, social activity, and generation approaches within the sociological discourse on health issues are aimed at identifying the social determinants of various parameters of adolescent health and their health preservation habitus. Results. The study has identified a number of factors that determine the lifestyle of modern schoolchildren and have a negative impact on their health in the context of significant academic loads, intensification of the educational process, and involvement in intense extra-curricular activities: non-compliance with age regulations of the daily routine; low motor activity; unsatisfactory organization and deterioration of the quality of nutrition in the family; habitus of parents’ behavior, not focused on health preservation. Discussion and Conclusion. The conducted research provides scientific substantiation of and emphasizes the need for measures aimed at increasing physical activity and healthy nutrition of both younger and older schoolchildren in the context of the demographic crisis. Practical application of the conclusions drawn in this study involves formulation of proposals for improving the effectiveness of managerial decisions taken by ministries and departments of the Republic of Tatarstan.