Abstract:

Healthy lifestyle has recently become a popular term used to describe an adult style of life. However, literature on children lifestyle is scarce. The issue is essential as children's personality, rules of conduct, the way they spend their free time, their dietary habits and attitudes to physical activities start to develop at a very early stage. If we can show pre-school children correct principles, it will bear fruit in the future and they will make right decisions regarding their lifestyles.

It has been demonstrated that health is affected by numerous phenomena. In 1974, the Canadian Minister for Health, M. Lalonde, classified these factors into four groups, creating a concept of a "health field". The first group identified by Lalonde is "lifestyle". It is referred to as personal decisions which one may control and which influence one's health. It is deemed that lifestyle has about 50% to 52% of effect on individual's health. Another group of factors is "environment", which accounts for approximately 20% of influence. These are external stimuli that affect human, over which the person has little or no control. The third group is "human biology", which includes genetic factors, age, sex, and all features related to human body biology. It is ascribed about 20% of impact on health. The last group of components is "health care organisation". The final category means access to medical care, if any, its quality, type, organisation and resources. Medical care organisation has about 10% to 15% of effect on individual's health.

World Health Organisations' list of factors affecting human health is very similar. The most important factor it presents is lifestyle, which accounts for about 50% of impact. Subsequent groups are: environment (20%) and genetic factors (also 20%). The concluding group of factors is health care (ca. 10%).

As indicated by the WHO's and M. Lalonde's classifications, the most crucial group of factors preconditioning human health is lifestyle. It comprises all actions, activities and patterns of behaviour shaped by mutual relations with parents, siblings, other family members, peers, by preschool education and various types of media. Said patterns may undergo changes during an individual's lifetime, amongst other things, as a result of experience gained.

The article presents research concerning performance and realisation of pro-health education in preschools in the Siedlce city.

Keywords:

Attitudes, health, lifestyle, education, preschool.