Health is our natural, absolute, and perpetual value that occupies the highest position in an hierarchy stairs of values. As the society develops and prosperity level grows the awareness of health value also increases. Health nowadays is one of the necessary conditions of active, creative life of full value. Human’s health is, first of all, the process of saving and development of his psychological and physiological characteristics, optimal work condition and social activity along with the maximum life duration. Health is determined by the following factors: human’s biological abilities; social climate and environmental conditions. Studying factors that influence human’s health is the basis of health science [1, 2, 6, 7, 10, et.c.].
Denial of health concepts polarization into health and disease required new scientific developments. Creation of health learning became necessary. A single learning of human’s health can be conditionally defined as health science. It includes a whole complex of science that have the following characteristics: relation and cooperation with other human sciences; presence of integrative characteristic, system of scientific knowledge and strategy; multi-levelness: the presence of theoretical, practical, and organization levels; diversity of health influence means (formation, saving, strengthening, restoration).
The object of health science is human’s health in its all normal and pathological displays, in person’s interaction with his environment that is studied in order to reveal the reasons, conditions, and legislations of his reserve abilities alteration. The matter of health science are health criterions that allow us quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate health or its dynamic trends along with the alterations in vital functions forms [11, 12, 13 et.c.].
In general, health criterions, according to A.L. Dimova are: for somatic and physical – I can, for psychological – I want; for moral – I must. Besides, the following characteristics of health are outlined: specific (immune) and non-specific steadiness to damage factors impact; growth and development indexes; functional condition and reserve organism capabilities; presence of any disease and the level of moral-will and value-oriented settings.
People’s health condition is dependent on individual way of life, environmental factors influence. Reserves of human’s health sustain is in the way of life organization, that s defined by medical culture, including person’s knowledge of genetic, physiologic, psychological organism’s abilities, control and preservation of psycho-physiological status and health strengthening methods, skills to spread medical-biological knowledge in one’s communication circle and social environment in a whole [16].
Health is also dependent on inherited and obtained conditions, adaptive and protective mechanisms disturbances, ecology, upbringing, and also on endogenous and exogenous factors that may have both positive and negative impact on it.
However, the analysis of Russian population health condition, according to the data of official statistics and the results of epidemicological research («Demographic yearbook of Russia…», 1995-2000; «Healthcare of Russian Federation», 200; «Analytic material of State Statistic Committee», 2002; Governmental report «On sanitary epidemic conditions in Russian Federation in 2001») show, that it is much worse than in most of industrially-developed countries and its further worsening should be expected unless the conditions that influence health are significantly improved. The greatest importance is referred to factors that are related with environment and the way of life, as these factors can be corrected on both population and individual level.
All that testifies the new need for a new strategy of preventive measures aimed for the increase in individual population activity in practical mastering of skills and knowledge of healthy way of life, the formation of social awareness that is oriented for the healthy way of life, increase in a human’s health improvement culture.
Way of life represents the method of individual or group vital functioning in unity of the objective and subjective. Under the way of life we mean stable, formed under certain social-ecological conditions means of human’s vital functioning, that is displayed in norms of communication, behavior, way of thinking.
According to E.N. Wayner [10], the concept of the way of life should be defined as a method of human’s vital functioning that one follows in his everyday life because of social, cultural, material, and professional conditions. In this definition we should outline a culture aspect showing that way of life does not equals its conditions that only provide and condition the way of life by material and non-material factors, a man’s culture here, in the context of discussed problem, mean that a man choose his own way of life himself, depending on his knowledge and life position [3, 4, 5, 8, 11 et.c.].
A great importance in proving the way of life comes to a personal component, that imply setting a way of life in accordance to inherited typological human qualities, inheritedly-defined or obtained diseases or disturbances of his immunity and regulative-adaptive systems, level of education, life goal settings, present social-economical conditions. Individual way of life addressness, that must include described factors into the list of initial premises, should be considered as a naturally-determined.
So, the way of life is a bio-social category, that integrate the concept of definite human vital functioning type and is characterized by his professional activity, household, form of material and spiritual needs satisfaction, rules of individual and social behavior.
Y.P. Lisitsyn included four categories into the way of life: economical – the level of life; social – the quality of life; social-psychological – lifestyle; and social-economical – the life setup. Along with that people’s health is dependent on style and setup of their lives that in their turn are defined by historical traditions, fixed in humans mentality.
Biological trends in the way of life of a modern person significantly intensify the main health problem that is in the antagonism between growing need for good health and unfavourable alteration in its condition. The letter is often liked to poor hygiene, valeology, and ecological competence and also to a behavior passiveness that can be described by the dual human nature: biological and social. In a man’s way of life a conflict between biological (a will to take pleasure) and social (mind and intellect) arise. In dependence on what factors prevail a person forms his individual way of life.
Healthy way of life can be characterized as a person’s activity aimed for saving and strengthening his health. Here it is necessary to consider the fact that the a way of life of a man or a family does not form by itself in dependence on circumstances but is formed during al the life period continuously and purposefully.
The healthy way of life formation is the main key of initial prevention and strengthening of a population health trough alteration of life style and setup, its improvement with usage hygiene knowledge while fighting bad habits, hypodynamia and overcoming unfouvarable impacts that are related to life situations [14, 15].
So, under the healthy way of life we should mean typical forms and methods of everyday «vital functioning that strengthen and improve reserve organism’s abilities, thus provind successful accomplishment of social and professional functions regardless of political, economical, and social-psychological situations».
To characterize the healthy way of life eight basic positions that reflect the most favourable impact on heath are used. These include active life position, full-value rest, balanced nutrition etc. Every of these positions is characterized by phychophysiological satisfaction that has a positive effect on a person’s overall condition.
An opposite position (dissatisfaction with life situation, hypodynamia, abuse of alcohol and smoking etc.) characterize unhealthy way of life that is related to discomfort, accumulation of negative emotions and factors that will, sooner or later, affect nervous-psychological status of a man and become the first step to an organism disease.
According to E.N. Wayner [10], a healthy way of life structure must include: optimum movement regimen, rational nutrition, rational life regimen, psychophysiological regulation, psychosexual and sex culture, immune training and hardening, absence of bad habits and valeological education.
A healthy way of life as a system forms out of three basic interchangeable elements (three cultures): nutrition culture, movement culture, and emotional culture. Single health-improving methods and procedures do not give desired and stable health improvement since they don’t interfere with a single psychosomatic structure of a person.
Undoubtedly, a formation of the healthy way of life has to be complex and combine implementation of whole-state measures with individual behavior. For example, usage of rational nutrition as a prevention of obesity does not only imply the willingness and corresponding knowledge of a person, but also the possibility of its realization, and this is a set of ecologically-clean products in a sufficient quantity, their diversity in the content of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, microelements, and calorie content. An absence of one of described components decrease the effectiveness of a healthy way of life realization.
A present education system does not yet provide for a healthy way of life formation, so people’s knowledge on a healthy way of life did not become their views. Recommendations on a healthy way of life are often imposed to children in edifying and categorical form that doesn’t cause any positive reactions, and adults. Including pedagogues, rarely follow the described rules. High-school children and students do not take care of their heath formation, as it requires certain will efforts, they mostly try to prevent heath disturbances and rehabilitate that what is lost.
Thus, a healthy way of life must be continuously and purposefully formed during all the person’s life period and not be dependent on circumstances and life situations. In this case it will become a tool of initial prevention, strengthening and improvement of health, improve reserve organism’s abilities, provide successful fulfillment of social and professional functions regardless of political, economical, and social-psychological situations.