Abstract
The aim of an anonymous questionnaire enquiry has been carried out in 484 teachers of various school levels in order to assess if the teachers perceived the risks resulting from the health state, the lifestyle and the profession. We found out that many respondents were exposed to several risk factors simultaneously.
Most often there were present some serious diseases in the respondent's direct relatives (89.6%) and an increased occupational psychic load (77.7%). The occupational stress was blamed namely by teachers of elementary schools.
In total, 40 % of teachers suffered from chronic diseases, namely of the musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Nearly one quarter of teachers suffered from overweight and 6.6 % of them were obese.
An increased cholesterol level was reported in 26.6 % and a higher blood pressure in 5.9 % of respondents. On the other hand, the teachers smoke less than the general population of Czech Republic.
There was only 12.3 % of current smokers (7% of regular and 5.3% of occasional ones). Quite satisfactory was also the measure of physical activity of our teachers.
The respondents were well aware of their health risks, which corresponded with and projected into their fear as regarded their possible health consequences in future. A certain underestimation was being found in smokers only.