Habits and attitudes of first year students at Warmia & Mazury University, Poland regarding healthy lifestyle

Introduction: The 1st year of university studies is the last period during which the attitudes and habits of young adults can be shaped and that is why it is so important to accurately assess their lifestyles and needs.

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the habits and attitudes of 640 first-year male students attending the Warmia & Mazury University in Olsztyn regarding their lifestyles, health risks and possible preventive measures.

Method: Students were randomly chosen from groups attending obligatory P.E. lessons. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire, containing questions regarding physical activity, personal hygiene and sanitary conditions, nutrition, stress, tobacco and alcohol use, and the students’ interest in gaining knowledge on health-related topics, was used. The obtained results were characterized by descriptive statistics.

Results: The majority of the students reported participating only in obligatory P.E. lessons in high school and less than a third expressed a willingness to participate in such lessons throughout their university education. Many students reported drinking alcohol regularly, even as often as every day, and nearly half of them smoked. Most students considered stressful situations to be unavoidable and a large percentage of them expressed an interest in gaining knowledge on coping with this. The overall interest in health related topics was found to be quite low.

Conclusions: The habits and attitudes of 1st year male university students are not interested in physical activity, but largely dependent on alcohol and tobacco. Despite the fact that these students expressed the need to change some behaviors and gain knowledge on a few specific health topics, their motivation to lead a healthy lifestyle can be treated as low.