Some aspects of motivating schoolchildren to leading a healthy lifestyle

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.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study was approved by Independent ethics committee of the N.A. Semashko National Research Institute of Public Health, Moscow, extract from meeting No. 1 of May 17, 2022.

Contribution of the authors:
Vigdorchik Ya.I. — research concept and design, collection and processing of material, statistical data processing, writing the text, compilation of the list of literature;
Alfyorova O.N. — collection and processing of material, writing the text, editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Received: February14, 2023 
Accepted: April 12, 2023
Published: July 06, 2023