O.A. Churganov¹
E.A. Gavrilova¹
Y.V. Yakovlev^2
1North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, St. Petersburg
²Military Academy of Signal Communications named after Marshal of the Soviet Union S.M. Budyonny, St. Petersburg

Keywords: physical activity, family traditions, motivation for healthy lifestyle.

Background. The Government of Russian Federation gives a special priority to the young people’s health policies that largely rely on the family institutions and traditions viewed as critical for the success of the efforts to build up the schoolchildren’s motivations for physical activity and healthy lifestyles. [3].

Objective of the study was to analyze the potential role of family traditions for the schoolchildren’s motivations for physical activity and healthy lifestyles.

Methods and structure of the study. For the study purposes, we applied the toolkit provided by the international Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) project [1, 2]. The HBSC studies in different countries have demonstrated certain differences in the schoolchildren’s health behaviors and attitudes to the healthy lifestyles [4]. The present study was run under the socially important Consolidating Efforts of the Civil Societies and Local Governments for the Family and Demographic Situation Addressing Policies under the “Strong Family, Strong Russia” Project. Subject to a questionnaire survey were over 10 thousand schoolchildren of 11, 13 and 15 years of age in 14 Russian cities from the Health Cities and Towns Associations; with the questionnaire survey compliant to the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) standard.

Study findings and discussion. The questionnaire survey found 66.9% of the sample having full families; and 19.7% having incomplete (mother only) families. The family composition analysis showed that the full families having 2+ children account for about 70% of the sample, albeit the share of the single-parent families tend to grow with the children’s age, as verified by the survey data of the 11-15 year-olds groups.

Parental care is believed to be the key component of the family contribution to the child’s health, social values system, life stereotypes, healthy lifestyle cultivation and physical activity basics formation process. The study found that the senior children reporting good family relations, sound family traditions and good parental care tend to highly appreciate the health values being less prone to bad habits on the whole and smoking in particular. This group was tested with the highest life contentment rates and the lowest rate of somatic and mental disorders. On the whole, 61% of the sample reported a comfortable climate in their families – that means that their parents are open for discussion of difficulties and always ready to help find solutions for every problem. It should be noted, however, that the need for parental care tend to fall with age irrespective of gender as verified by the survey data of the 11-15 year-olds groups.

What are the joint family activities? It was found by the survey that 33% of the sample watches TV virtually every day; 35% reported no experience of joint physical activity with their families. Moreover, 28.8% of the sample reported their families staying aloof of whatever physical trainings and sports i.e. giving a negative role model for their children: see Table 1 hereunder.

Table 1. Responses to the question ‘What are the joint family activities?’

It should be emphasized that it is the family that fosters motivations for healthy lifestyles including physical trainings and sports. However strong are the school/ communal/ governmental efforts to lure people to the modern physical education and sport services, it should be confessed that the role of families in creating the healthy behavioral stereotypes is still dominant.

Conclusion. The questionnaire survey demonstrates the high role of family values and relations in the children’s motivations for health activities, healthy lifestyle and physical activity. The study data verifies the need for the mass physical activation programs with a special priority to family encouragements and contributions.

References

1. Evdokimov V.I., Churganov O.A. Metodologiya i metodika provedeniya nauchnoy raboty po fizicheskoy kulture i sportu [Technology and methods of scientific work on physical education and sports]. Moscow, 2010.
2. Evdokimov V.I., Churganov O.A., Yatskovets A.S. [ed.] Nauchnaya rabota po fizicheskoy kulture i sportu: metodologiya i metodika provedeniya [Scientific work on physical education and sports: technology and methods]. MIPC publ.. St. Petersburg, 2007.
3. Churganov O.A. Zdorovesberegayuschee povedenie kak faktor uluchsheniya kachestva zhizni naseleniya [Health-promotion behaviour as factor to improve quality of life of population]. Aktualnye problemy professionalnoy deyatelnosti spetsialistov v sfere fizicheskoy kultury i sporta [Actual problems of professional activity of physical education and sports specialists]. St. Petersburg, 2005, pp. 151-155.
4. Shelkova L.N., Churganov O.A., Gavrilova E.A., Malinin A.V. Sotsialnye aspekty fizkulturno-sportivnoy deyatelnosti v shkolnoy srede [Social aspects of physical education and sports activities in school environment]. Fizicheskaya kultura v obazovanii: sostoyanie i perspektivy razvitiya: Mater. mezhvuz. nauch.-prakt. konf. 'Gertsenovskie chteniya' [Physical culture in education: status and development prospects: Proc. interuniversity. res.-practical conf. 'Herzen's conference', ded. 70th anniversary of Physical Education Department of Herzen RSPU], St. Petersburg, 2016, pp. 211-215.
5. Yakovlev Y.V. Issledovanie motivov, opredelyayuschikh vklyuchennost studentov gornykh spetsialnostey v fizkulturno-sportivnuyu deyatelnost [Study of motives to determine involvement of students majoring in mining in physical education and sports activities]. Uchenye zapiski un-ta im. P.F. Lesgafta, 2012, no. 7 (89), pp. 155–159.

Corresponding author: churganov@inbox.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyze the potential role of family traditions for the schoolchildren’s motivations for physical activity and healthy lifestyles. The study was completed under the social Public-private Partnership for the Family and Demographic Policies “Strong family, strong Russia” Project. Subject to a questionnaire survey were 10 thousand schoolchildren of 11, 13 and 15 years of age in 14 Russian cities from the Health Cities and Towns Associations; with the questionnaire survey compliant to the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) standard. The questionnaire survey demonstrates the high role of family values and relations in the children’s motivations for health activities, healthy lifestyle and physical trainings. The study data and analyses verify the need for the mass physical activation programs with a special priority to family encouragements and contributions.