Behavioral health risks for students during distance education

Introduction. The modern development of information and communication technologiesand the current epidemiological situation have led to the widespread use of distance educational technologies. The article presents the results of a statistical analysis of the data obtained during the hygienic assessment of the characteristics of the lifestyle and activity of students in the period of active introduction of forms and methods of distance education.

Material and methods. An online survey of 498 students in 2019 during the period of traditional education and 1587 students in April 2020 during the implementation of the educational process in the distance format was conducted. The coordinator of the work was the Department of Hygiene of the Pediatric Faculty of the N.I. Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow.

Results. The obtained data allows talking about the negative impact of electronic devices on the lifestyle of students. A significant increase in the time of the use of gadgets (almost twice) and their number (2-4) when transferring the educational process to a remote format is proved. In general, the use of stationary and mobile electronic devices in more than 50% of respondents amounted to five hours or more. A decrease in the quality characteristics of the lifestyle of students in higher education during the transition to distant education has been established, while more than a third of them do not realize this. As risk factors, a decrease in motor activity, visual impairment, neuropsychic stress, poor nutrition, etc. In the absence of direct contact with university teachers, the opportunities for creating healthy lifestyle skills within the university are reduced and the importance of teachers as an authoritarian influence and a personal example for students is reduced.

Conclusion. Informatization and the introduction of distance learning technologies in the higher education system require comprehensive studies of the advantages and disadvantages of such a learning format. The forced mass introduction of distance learning technologies in the educational process has exposed many problems that have not yet been given sufficient attention and, in the future, they can become the basis for promising research in the field of educational hygiene. The results obtained suggest that modern students do not pay enough attention to their lifestyle in the period of the distant education.