Healthy lifestyle: Perceptions and attitudes of students (the results of a focus group research)

The article presents the results of the research conducted in December 2013 at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia with the method of focus groups. The study aimed at identification not only the differences in understanding healthy lifestyles among students and their attitudes to a healthy lifestyle, but also its components, obstacles for the realization and opportunities to overcome them. The focus group research was just another stage of the project aimed at studying health and healthy lifestyles as values and the characteristics of the formation and manifestation of a health-preserving behavior. Despite many opportunities to motivate a health-preserving behavior among students, we still see obstacles for its formation due to both social and cultural characteristics. The study revealed that the value of health at this stage of life is rather declarative: only a small percentage of respondents are fully aware of the necessity of a health-preserving behavior and do really adopt a healthy lifestyle. The basic factors influencing the formation of the healthy lifestyle among the youth are the family, social environment and mass media. The respondents, in particular, confirm the significant impact of their social circle on the commitment to the bad habits as well as to healthy hobbies. The main factors hindering the healthy lifestyles among students include lack of free time, welfare, Internet addiction, lack of sufficient motivation and self-organization.

health, a healthy lifestyle, health-preserving behavior, students, student youth, focus groups