Current state of students’ health and factors as well as means of its improvement

Abstract

Aim: To assess the current state of students’ health in higher educational institutions in Ukraine and identify the main measures, factors, and means of its improvement. Materials and Methods: The research was conducted in 2022-2023 and involved 266 second-year students (82 males, 184 females) from different faculties. Research methods: analysis of literary sources, observation, questionnaire surveys, and statistical methods. Results: A general downward trend in the level of health among students in higher educational institutions in Ukraine has been established. The deterioration of the health of male students is particularly worrying: the number of students with good health has decreased by 34.1 % over the past 10 years, while the number of students with poor and very poor health has increased by 14.0 % and 3.7 %, respectively. It has been found that 41.5 % of male and 34.2 % of female students do not know the cause of their illness and do not know how to prevent it. Students are well aware of the value of their health but do not care about it, are too lazy to exercise and rely on medications or a doctor when they are ill. Conclusions: A student’s health is his or her social and personal values, level of culture, ability to withstand heavy physical and mental stress, and ability to adapt to various external factors. Therefore, the primary task of physical education departments should be to form the interests, desires, and motives of students for physical exercise.