The presentation was made for project MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO “Let’s find the balance” STUDENTS` SPACE

Filled in by 346 students in the partner countries Age

The term “good health “ implies Others E Absence of illnesses C Being fit B Nice appearance. A 65% b 8% e 67,4 % b 28,3% a 52% c 4% e 40% b 2% e 64% c 4% d Emotional stability D 54% b 2% e 48% b 0% d

Mostly “Being fit “ SWEDEN 67,4 % BULGARIA 65 % PORTUGAL 54 % ROMANIA 48 % ITALY 40 % TURKEY 38 % Only in Turkey and Romania it's “Absence of illnesses ”

Emotional stability SWEDEN Greece 58,7 % 0 %

Level of consciousness about health ! Very high E Moderate C Very low A High D Low B N B E 16 % of students in Greece present very high level of consciousness.

What can influence health ? Low/no physical activity C Bad eating habits/ Unhealthy diets A Bad sleep D Stress and negative emotions B 55,2 % - b 47,1 % - a 39 %-c 34,9 % -d

Factors that influence eating habits ? Mass media C GEO conditions and Climatic conditions A Tourism and globalisation D Financial problems B B 38,15 % C 36,7 % A 32,08 % D 18,7 %

% of students who Never or Rarely follow a healthy diet 46 % 40 % 36 % 34,8 % 28 % 20 % 0 %

Number of meals per day Mainly 3 meals for all countries (more than 40%) Portugal - going up to 88% for 4 and more meals Food preferences Homemade-cooked food is the preference of children in all countries With Greece reaching 100%, followed by Portugal 86% 100% of Greek children have their lunch at home

How much water do you drink a day ? 3,4 glasees C 1 glasses A 5,6 glasses D 2 glasses B More than 6 glasses E D+eD+e Romania-68 %, Bulgaria-56 %, Italy-53 % A+BA+B Sweden-32,6 %, Italy-30 %, Portugal-26 % Greece & Romania-0 % A+BA+B

BulgariaSwedenPortugalRomania Italy 58%50%50%44%40%36% 26% /26 % bcbbbb a,da,da,da,d GreeceTurkey What do you usually drink ? Tea E Milk C Fizzy drinks A Coffee D Juice /Fresh B

How many portions of dairy products do you have a day ? 4 E 2 C None A 3 D 1 B D+eD+e Greece + Turkey-60 %, A+BA+B Italy-58 %, Sweden-50%, Greece-0 %

How often do you do any physical activity (except PE lessons ) ? Twice a week C Never A 3times a week D Once a week B Every day E d+ed+e 84% 41,3% 34% 32% 26% 24% a+ba+b Portugal-56%,Turkey-50%,Italy-48%,Sweden-34,7%,Portugal-34%, Greece-32%,Bulgaria-18 %

Which of the following do you prefer for short distances in your daily life ? Walk C Use stairs A Cycle D Use elevator B Use public transport E Walk C ITALY 84 % 56% TURKEY Bulgaria 37 % 64 % ROMANIA 58% 72 % 80,4% GREECESWEDENPORTUGAL

Which of the following is true for you I drink alcohol C I eat Junk food A I use comp too much D I smoke B None of the above E a -52,1 %, c -50 % d -42 %, a -32 % d -44 %, d -34 % a -100 %, c -43 % d -66 %, a -20% d -48 %, b -20% a- 40 %, d -32%

Which of the groups below play an important part in building your physical activity preferences and support you in making the right choices ? Teachers C Friends and peers A Pop/sport idols D Family B Experts E58% 36% 10% 9,8% 9,5% b a e d c

Mental Health In your opinion a good mental health implies : Coping well with positive and negative emotions C Feeling good with Yourself and others A Establishing successful relationships with different groups of people D others E A- 75,4 % Accepting and Coping with life demands B B-35,2 % C-33.5 % D-32,6 % E-feeling happy & full of life -13,5 %

What can affect your mental health? School results C Physical health A Financial situation D Relationships, Family,friends B others E A- 36,7 % B-68,2 % C-33.5 % D-28,6 % E- 4,3 %

About my appearance : I am scared of gaining weight C I believe that the most Important thing is to look good A Feeling good is more important than looking good D It is not important to me E I wish I were more attractive B A- 31,2 % B-18,2 % C-23,9 % D-36,9% E- 10,1 %

Reasons for going on a diet 6,6% 10,9% 6% 49% 28% a b c d e All my friends do it C Its trendy A Health reasons D Really don’t do anything in particular E I want to look like celebritybetter B

Main worries I feel most worried about: Losing someone I love C School exams A Social approval D nothing E Disappointing my parents B 31,2 % 34,3% 38,4 % 11,5 % 6,3 % BCAD E The results show the highest priority for students are family, friends.

My school issues are related to : I’m not interested in studying C Some teachers don’t treat me fairly A Communication with peers D I have no issues E Some of school material is difficult to comprehend B Incomprehensive material leads to decrease of motivation and make the relationship teacher – student more complicated. Greece – teachers treat them fairly Turkey – 58% have no issues in school Sweden – 73% present low motivation 35,8 % 24,5 % 30,05 % 21,09 % D-8,9 %

I feel that my parents Don’t care about my needs C Are disappointed with me A Consider my opinion D Understand and support me E Don’t understand me B46% 32,6% 19,07% 11,6% 9,5%a b c d e 78,8% of children feel supported and cared for

In relationships with peers I feel misunderstood and insecure C I know I can always count on my friends A I often get offended D Sometimes they are aggressive to me E Communication is easy B 52,3 %50,5 % 10,9 %7,5 % 4,9 % 100% of children in Greece find their friends reliable and communicate with them easily

If someone is aggressive to me I feel misunderstood and insecure C I feel helpless and don’t know what to do A I often get offended D Sometimes they are aggressive to me E I am afraid to tell anybody B Children have no good mechanisms to cope with aggressive behavior and do not believe anybody can help them. A- 11,5 % B-8,9 % C-10,9 % D-7,5 % E- 4,9 %

When I am really angry I tend to : Hurt myself C Yell and insult A Hit people D Try to calm down and solve the problems E Throw and break things B 58,9 % E 7,2 %9,5 %17,6 %32,3 % ABDC *Kids in Greece, Turkey and Romania – NEVER hit. *In Romania – 80% try to find a peaceful solution and overcome negative emotions

Failure makes me Feel I don’t have any luck C Feel guilty and useless A Learn from my mistakes and motivates me do better D I try not to think about it E Feel angry and give up what I am doing B A- 16,5 % B-22,8 % C-26,8 % D-46,8 % E- 19,9 % Children tend to feel innocent for their own failures. They prefer blaming other people / circumstances or avoid thinking about it. This is not true for Greece only.

When I am under stress Nothing makes me happy C I have trouble sleeping at night A I feel physically ill D It affects my social life E I tend to eat more and gain weight B44,2% 18,8% 23.4% 28,8% 24% a b c d e Stress affects mostly children’s emotional and general social life and well-being.

I cope with distress by Support from family and friends C Smoking A Seeing an expert- psychologist, advisor D I don’t know how to cope E Working out B A- 21,7 % B-37,8 % C-44,5 % D-8,3 % E- 9,8 % Children in Greece – never seek expert help. Smokers 38% Italy 41,3% Sweden 42% Portugal

General conclusions The Family A: Teachers and young people rate the family as the most important factor in adolescents’ life, providing understanding, support, advice, help etc. Most parents claim they are doing their best but students disagree. The most stressing demand on the part of parents is pressing for higher school results. On the other hand teachers admit the support of the parents 'community is less than the average. 1.A way must be found to communicate to parents the fact that their understanding of care for the child and the children’s idea for it does not coincide. Children’s answers signal for lack of appropriate attitude sometimes even misunderstanding. 2.They should be involved more actively in school life by being regularly and objectively informed about their children’s academic improvement, behaviour and psychological status as well as giving opinion about teacher’s performance, organizing and taking part in common events. 3.Parents must be realistic about their children’ abilities. They’d better help in pinpointing what is important for their children.

Teachers B: Teachers reveal a high rate of consciousness about students’ health. However, students rate teachers as the least important group which builds up their preferences and choices concerning health. 1.They must strive to develop better teacher- student relationship based on real understanding and trust in order to become an important factor which can influence young people’s decisions. C: Children claim the need of more comprehensive teaching and more fair treating. 1.Teachers must more actively play their role as motivators by making difficult lessons more comprehensive and enjoyable. They should bear in mind that another significant component of motivation is fair treating. D: The best ways to fight school drops and bad health consequences are involving students in group activities: group work, workshops, indoor and out door events together with family and peers.

Students A: Young people present good knowledge about the importance of food on their health but they underestimate the importance of water and physical activity and completely ignore emotional stability as a factor for healthy well-being. 1. We must make them well - aware of the importance of these factors. B: Students have no mechanisms to cope with aggression and failure. 1: These should be provided by family and teachers. C: Youngsters lead a healthy lifestyle putting very little emphasis on dieting except in case of illness. However they admit eating junk food often. 1:They can be encouraged to avoid doing it.