With the development of the society, people have become more and more interested in the topic of health. The philosophers of antiquity were the first ones to study health. In ancient Greece, a huge contribution was made by Hippocrates, Plato, Socrates, Pythagoras and others. Hippocrates was a founder of a healthy lifestyle, whose postulates were set out in his book ‘Health program: A Proven Guide to Healthful Living’. Pythagoras, the father of valeology – the science of the health of a healthy person and of a ‘virtuous life’, which in modern society is called a healthy lifestyle, was the first one to study the health of a healthy, not of a sick person. In ancient Rome, Asclepiades, Celsus, Galen, and others, as well as scientists from ancient India, Tibet, and China, made their contribution to the study of health. Philosophers and scientists of antiquity, studying health, came to a conclusion that health depends not only on a healthy lifestyle, but also on the behavior and activities a person is engaged in. Confucius (China BC) created the doctrine of human behavior in various life situations. The Buddha’s teaching has been based on human behavior and experience.
The World Health Organization has defined health as ‘A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. The formation of health occurs under the influence of various factors: living and working conditions, nutrition, behavior, the presence or absence of bad habits, and much more. Men, just like women, create their own health. Behavior plays a big role in men’s lives. It has an impact on all areas of life: health, family, work, finances, environment, recreation, etc. The quality and longevity of men’s lives depends on an individual behavior of a man, and results in their level of success, moral and material well-being, social status. In September 2021, as a part of the 71st session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, WHO/Europe hold an event ‘Health literacy in the assessment of the analysis of behavioral and cultural factors’. In 2022, WHO/Europe launched the Behavioral and Cultural Factors Research Unit (behavioral cultural factors are a set of psychological, cultural, social and other factors) – a new flagship initiative that identifies behaviors which affect health. Such departments have already been established in the Netherlands, Slovakia, Wales and Finland. Behavioral cultural factors play an important role in both improving and worsening of the men’s health.
