Hygiene training of schoolchildren and students using the "habit trackers – checklists" technology

Abstract

Healthy lifestyle formation is one of the tasks of the hygiene education of children, adolescents and young adults. That is why it is necessary for educational institutions to implement the technologies focused on health preservation in students. The study was aimed to develop and test the technology for hygiene training of students. In 2017–2019 we tested the “Habit Trackers – Checklists” technology in dynamics within the framework of the hygiene training of schoolchildren in the Moscow and Astrakhan regions, and in 2021–2023 the technology was tested for college and university students. A total of 502 schoolchildren, 234 college students, and 429 university students were enrolled. In educational institutions, where the hygiene training program was implemented, the number of schoolchildren with the diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue decreased by 1.4 times, and the number of students with eye diseases decreased by 2.6 times compared to other educational institutions of the Astrakhan region. Later, when the technology was tested for college and university students, the number of students having medium and high levels of physical activity increased from 46.0% (before the hygiene training) to 72.0% (after the hygiene training). The findings allow us to recommend replicating the proposed hygiene training program in educational institutions.