“The attitude of Ukrainian youth to a healthy lifestyle,” research conducted by State Institute for Family and Youth of Ukraine in association with UNICEF, found that in assessing their own health 56.5% of respondents noted its condition as “good.” However, more than a third of respondents noted it “satisfactory” (33,7%), what can be considered as warning sign, since “satisfactory” can be interpreted as “more bad than good.” Another revealing fact is that only 7,8% of respondents rated their health as “very good”.
Young people aged 14-17 tend to evaluate their personal health the most positive: 72,3% rated it as “very good” and “good”. Young people aged 18-24 have less positive perception: almost two-thirds of them noted their health as “very good” and “good”. In the age group 25-35 years only 58,4% of persons assesst their own health positively. Age-related differences can be explained not only by objective factors of physical health, which naturally deteriorates with age. It should be taken into account that teenagers and young people generally have more optimistic approach to life.
Then, both men and women in health self-assessment note it as “good” (57,6% and 55% in accordance). At the same time men in comparison with women tend more to asses their health “very good” (11,3% vs. 4,3%). And women tend to more negative evaluations.
