HEALTH LITERACY IN SHAPING HEALTH RESOURCES (EXAMPLE OF ADULT WARSAW YOUTH)

Abstract

The public discourse adopted an approach to health literacy as health awareness or the ability to make decisions about health in terms of everyday life and the ability to avoid disease or protect against disease. A high level of literacy gives knowledge on how and where to look for information on the impact of various factors on health. A field audit was conducted in the direction of health literacy at randomly selected high schools in Warsaw (general, technical and vocational schools – currently industry) in the school year 2015/2016. The study involved 820 students of three types of Warsaw schools with representative sample selection. In the light of research, it turned out that adult youth from Warsaw vocational schools considerably less compared to youth from general education recognize health-threatening situations in the form of: lack of proper diet despite the indications of doctors, participation in sports and rehabilitation activities, despite the fact that about one a third of respondents reported weak, bad or even very serious health problems. In addition, relatively higher obesity compared to high school students and technical secondary schools. That is why it is important to pay special attention to education authorities (local and state) about neglect in the field of health education in schools, in particular in vocational schools.