Social construction of the health of modern Russianyouth: the main vectors of domestic discourse

Abstract

  The article presents a systematic analysis of trends and trends in the field of research of health problems in the youth environment, which relate to the attitude to health in general, the field of preserving and strengthening health.The author identifies significant risk factors that significantly affect both the health level of the younger generation and the life expectancy of its representatives, shows the ambivalence and inconsistency of data on the attitude of young people to their health obtained by various researchers. Based on the analysis of various sociological studies, including the author’s study conducted in July 2023, the results of the discussions conducted by domestic scientists addressing the health-saving problems of the younger generation of Russia are summarized.The first group includes macro-social problems related to the general state regulation of public health. Among them are the lack of health care of the population among the state priorities; inadequate social policy of the Russian Federation in the field of healthcare; the activities of institutions included in the management of the health sector, including its regulatory regulation. The second group of problems is related to the conceptualization of the concept of “health” and “healthy lifestyle”, the interpretation of which is usually ambiguous. It is obvious that the normative definition of a “healthy lifestyle” has medical, physiological, psychological and social structural components, which include various external factors — the influence of family and social environment, fashion on social habits, as well as the nature of media exposure.The data obtained by the author indicate that the greatest influence on the formation of young people’s ideas about health problems and practices for its maintenance is exerted by their own experience, social networks, family and the opinion of friends. They also confirm the prevailing trend: although the overwhelming majority of respondents (85%) are sure that people need to lead a healthy lifestyle, one in four believes that their lifestyle is unhealthy rather than healthy, and 5% of them do not consider their lifestyle healthy at all.The author refers to a special group of problems the impact on the health of the digital media environment, into which the younger generation is actively integrated today, first of all, about the so-called “new media”, which include: internet portals of online media, blogosphere, social networks, virtual communities, virtual games and other Web resources. By broadcasting ideas, behavioral models, new media in modern society become “legislators” in various spheres of social life. To a certain extent, they participate in the construction of an individual’s behavior in relation to health, which is both constructive and destructive in nature.