Physioprophylaxis in the cognitive and practical competences of physical education students from Poland and Belarus

Background: The task of physioprophylaxis is to popularize health-promoting behaviors and to shape andmaintain the fitness and endurance of people of all ages in order to prevent disability.Aim of the study: The aim of the work is to present the diversity of cognitive and practical competencesregarding the use of physical activity in physioprophylaxis of health threats by physical education students.The cognitive competences include: the attitudes, knowledge of the respondents, practical competences, thefrequency of AF, and other health behaviors.Material and methods: The study administered an original questionnaire to a group of 224 physical educationstudents from Grodno in Belarus (B, n = 124) and Biała Podlaska in Poland (P, n = 100).Results: Students from Belarus indicated the following as important health risk factors significantly moreoften (p < 0.05) than students from Poland: smoking (B = 76.6%, P = 59%, p = 0.006), alcohol abuse (B = 75%,P = 43%, p < 0.001) and permanent stress (B = 63.7%, P = 35%, p < 0.001). Health behaviors undertaken bythe respondents for the protection and maintenance of health are primarily related to the observance of personalhygiene (B = 86.3%, P = 72.0%, p = 0.011), adequate sleep time (B = 62.9%, P = 45.0%, p = 0.010) andrational nutrition (B = 58.9%, P = 52.0%, p = 0.344).Conclusions: Assuming that the level of health competence (cognitive and practical) of the students in thefield of physical education translates to a large extent into professional competence, the education of the respondentsrequires further development of the knowledge of health sciences. The curricula and standards ofphysical education should be oriented towards the development of health competence