People’s health condition is alarming, especially that of children and teenagers. The main factors which influence health of a human being are health behaviour and a lifestyle. The main causes of illnesses are behaviours which are unfavourable to health or which threaten it. Health behaviours should be created from early childhood by parents and school.

The State Committee for Scientific Research collaborated with the research work concerning rural teenagers allowed to diagnose the attitude of their behaviour. The dominance of non-healthy behaviours among the examined made it possible to compare teenagers who were brought up in a variety of backgrounds (little towns and big cities) and to define the state of knowledge among the youth from rural areas. Major threats are: condiments, a wrong diet, unsuitable physical activities, inappropriate forms of rest and very low threat awareness among teenagers and their parents.

An important factor in improving children and teenagers’ state of health is the knowledge of health behaviours and attitudes. That knowledge should become the basis for creating a health programme for rural teenagers