Children’s health: subjective assessments of parents and objective characteristics

Children’s health and its protection is a matter of special concern to every society and state. Today’s children are the future of the country, the basis of its socio-economic potential. It is in childhood that the foundations of health and self-preserving behavior are formed.

Th e formation of a child’s health largely depends on the conditions that the family can provide, on the health practices that parents and the immediate social environment adhere to. Th e correct interpretation of the health of children by parents is of a great practical importance, as it makes it possible to correct it, prevent the consequences of diseases and timely seek for medical help.

Based on the analysis of the literature and the latest statistical data, the article attempts to analyze the health of children in modern Russia, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Th e main focus is shift ed to the area of p arents’ assessment of children’s health. It is concluded that parents overestimate the potential of children’s health and underestimate behavioral health risk factors, which leads to insuffi  cient attention to preventive measures to preserve it. At the same time, the author does not ignore the issue of the diffi  culty of maintaining a healthy lifestyle in diffi  cult economic conditions, under which a high proportion of families with children live in Russia, especially families with many children.

Th e empirical basis of the work is the study of the Department of Family Sociology and Demography of the Faculty of Sociology of Lomonosov Moscow State University “Interregional studies of life values  and non-transitivity of family-child orientations of women, men and married couples based on a cross-cutting analysis of comparable data” (SeDOZH, N=2479 people). In order to conduct a comparative analysis, the author obtained additional data on the topic of work, including studies by Russian and foreign authors on the problem as well as research centers in Russia.

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