The impact of family on children's attitude toward health

Abstract

Background. Parents have a significant impact on the formation of their children's attitude toward health. A detailed study of this effect will allow us to devise strategies for interaction with children and directions of psychological correction of maladaptive behaviors in health issues. Objective. To study the relationship between attitude toward health in primary-school-age children and their parents and styles of childrearing. Design. The study comprised 69 primary-school-aged children and their parents. The method of "Unfinished Sentences About Health" and the questionnaire "Analysis of Family Relationships" were used. Components of attitude toward health such as health self-esteem, assessment of healthy people, diseases, health promotion actions, health promotion factors (causes), and the value of health were considered. Results. The findings showed that the parents' components of attitude toward health are interrelated with those in children's at all levels (from behavioral to semantic and axiological) and are connected with the style of childrearing. Conclusion. Data analysis showed the impact of the style of childrearing and the interrelation of certain parental attitude toward health components with attitude toward health in primary-school-age children. This problem requires detailed study due to its theoretical significance and the obvious social challenges it presents.