Health behaviours of students from Polish universities participating in obligatory physical education classes

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. University life often introduces new conditions and changes in young people’s lifestyles, influencing their daily habits and routines. During this period, students frequently experience increased independence, academic pressure, and social challenges, which may shape their health-related behaviours in various ways. Although different programmes and physical education classes are applied to encourage healthy behaviours, their role in supporting positive lifestyle patterns among students continues to draw practical attention. The aim of this study is to assess and compare the intensity of specific health behaviour categories among students at various universities in Poland and to identify the factors underlying their variation. Material and Methods. The test group consisted of students (N=1097) from five Polish universities located in different regions of the country and with diverse academic profiles. The students’ average age was 19.7 years. All of them actively participated in physical education classes within their university curricula. A standardised questionnaire, Juczyński’s Health Behaviour Inventory (HBI), was used alongside the authors’ own questionnaire on selected lifestyle elements. Basic information about the participants’ socio-economic background was collected, together with measurements of height and body mass, as well as calculated BMI values. To assess the significance of differences between the compared groups, the Student’s t-test, ANOVA, and chi-squared test were applied. The threshold level of statistical significance was set at α = 0.05. Results. Twice as many participants exhibited a low level of health behaviours as those with a high one. The majority (48.3%) of respondents showed an average level of health behaviours. Male students had a lower overall health behaviour index score (p<0.001). In both male and female participants, the lowest scores were noted in the categories of proper eating habits and prophylactic behaviours. When comparing the intensity of particular categories of health behaviours among students from different universities, no differences were found in the group of women. Among the respondents, 53% of females and 32.2% of males were not physically active outside their university physical education classes. A total of 12.9% of men and 5.4% of women smoked regularly. The students’ financial situation, physical activity, and smoking were the variables differentiating the intensity in all four categories of health behaviours according to the HBI. The factors significantly differentiating the degree of intensity in HBI health behaviours included the student’s financial situation, physical activity of the student and their parents, smoking, above-normal BMI, and sex. The place of residence before entering university (urban or rural) was not such a factor. Low scores were observed in the areas of nutrition and physical activity. Conclusions. In promoting a healthy lifestyle, special attention should be paid to healthy eating habits, prophylactic behaviours, and students’ participation in leisure-time physical activity. It is recommended that within compulsory physical education classes, universities undertake interventions supporting a healthy lifestyle among students, with particular attention to developing habits related to regular physical activity and maintaining proper body mass.