Page 58 - Petelin, Ana. 2024. Ed. Zdravje delovno aktivnih in starejših odraslih | Health of the Working-Age and Older Adults. Zbornik prispevkov z recenzijo | Proceedings. Koper: University of Primorska Press

or car. 75.3 % of students spend more than 4 hours a day on the road.
35.7 % of students are on the road for up to 1 hour, 31.2 % are on the road
for 2 hours, 33.1 % are on the road for more than 3 hours, 75 % of all
students are passive in traffic. 15.6% of students sleep less than 6 hours,
24% have poor or very poor knowledge of how to deal with stress, 33.1%
of students are not physically active enough to stay healthy. 15.6% of
students sleep less than 6 hours, 24% have poor or very poor knowledge
of how to manage stress, 33.1% of students are not physically active
enough to stay healthy. The average body weight increases by almost 2 kg
over three years. The difference between knowledge of healthy lifestyle
indicators and the actual situation shows a non-significant negative
discrepancy. Discussion and conclusions: We believe that the current
situation reflects a lack of awareness among students of the importance
of healthy lifestyles, particularly in relation to the indicators of stress
management, appropriate physical activity and choosing more active
modes of transportation. The discrepancy between knowledge and
58 implementation shows that it is necessary to identify the causes of this
discrepancy, develop strategies to increase motivation, include healthy
zdravje delovno aktivnih in starejših odraslih | health of working-age and older adults
lifestyle content in courses, adapt the schedules of electives at faculties to
favourable dates, introduce physical activity breaks and health protocols.

Keywords: preschool teachers, promotion methods, lifestyle indicators.

Introduction
In this article, we analyze various indicators of (un)healthy lifestyle habits
among students training to become pre-school teachers. Working as a pre-
school teacher is demanding from a health perspective, involving long hours of
standing, lifting children, working in suboptimal positions (e.g., stooped pos-
ture, low chairs, etc.), which can lead to physical fatigue and stress (Cumming
et al., 2021), musculoskeletal pain (Gregorc and Dolenc, 2020), and exposure to
infections, as young children, who are frequently ill, can transmit these infec-
tions to educators (Linnan et al., 2017). It is therefore important for prospec-
tive educators to develop a healthy lifestyle. This is because a healthy lifestyle,
which includes regular physical activity and a balanced diet, has a positive ef-
fect on an individual‘s general well-being (Snedden, 2019). Long-term relation-
ships between healthy habits and quality of life are key to understanding the
impact of these factors on adult health (Visser et al., 2023; Lin et al., 2023).
A person‘s lifestyle, i.e., a set of habits, behaviours, and activities that affect
health and well-being, is formed throughout life, but most intensely during ad-
olescence, i.e., the university years (González Moreno & Molero Jurado, 2024).
During this stage of life, young people are exposed to various challenges and
influences that can significantly affect their habits (Tabrizi et al., 2024).
In order to effectively face the challenges, students first need knowledge
about the harms of unhealthy habits and the long-term positive health effects
of a healthy lifestyle in adulthood, knowledge about different techniques and