Introduction: Concern for the health of young people is an important indicator of a country. A healthy lifestyle is especially important in adolescence, and is a strong predictor of overall adult health outcomes. Youths and students represent the population, which requires a holistic approach that contributes to the preservation and strengthening of health and the change of inappropriate behaviour. Purpose: The aim of our study was to gain insight into the health status and lifestyle of adolescents along with the role of nurses in prevention and health promotion. The study overviews the lifestyle and risk factors that may affect adolescents’ health. These factors include smoking, unhealthy eating habits, alcohol abuse and lack of physical activity. Methods: A systematic literature research was conducted on healthy lifestyles of young people, using the databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Medline Medscape, Digital Library of the University of Ljubljana and shared bibliographic catalogue of Slovenian libraries COBISS.SI. The research sample consisted of 60 students of the Faculty of Health Sciences. A verified and tested questionnaire was used as a method of data collection, adapted from the questionnaire “Z zdravjem povezan življenjski slog”. The questionnaire was divided into six sections. Data management and analysis were performed using SPSS programme, which generated descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square, verifying the relationship between nominal and other variables, and t-test of independent samples, which examined statistically significant differences in the averages of the chosen variables. Results: The research findings indicate that there are some significant differences among the components of a healthy lifestyle of young people. Certain age-related differences were identified. It was established that tobacco smoking and drinking prevalence rates are higher among the 3rd year students than among the 1st year students. The study identified also certain statistically significant gender-related differences in regards to eating habits (women more frequently skip dinner), physical activity (women are less physically active during weekends) and alcohol consumption (more frequent and higher consumption of alcohol by males has been identified). Discussion and conclusion: The research confirmed the findings of previous studies in regards to health risk factors among adolescents (diet, smoking, physical activity, exercise) in relation to gender and the year of study. An important task of nurses in health promotion is to inform young people about unhealthy lifestyle and the prevention of its harmful consequences thereof.
|
