Pupils and students had the opportunity to watch well-known movies, such as “Juno” and “Kung Fu Panda”, as well as original documentaries like “Blood Lines”, a documentary made by two young women in the USA who suffer from HIV/AIDS and already shown by MTV in the US. The mobile cinema started its tour on May 17 in Bucharest and went on to Brasov (May 20), Cluj-Napoca (May 25), Timisoara (May 27) and Iasi (June 7-8). GeneratiaS, just like Guerilla Verde, aims at educating the youth through films. Hepatic illnesses, HIV/AIDA, drugs, a balanced diet, a healthy lifestyle, autism and tuberculosis are just some of the topics for our discussions. For further details please visit www.generatias.ro .
The organizers of the mobile cinema have conducted a poll on 10% of the students in high schools and universities who took part in the event. They did this to find out what is the youth’s perception of a healthy lifestyle as well as whether young people are informed about hepatic illnesses and HIV/AIDS.
The results of the poll show that pupils in high schools balance the hustle and bustle of everyday life through sport. More than 54% state that they practice sport beside the physical education class at school. On the other hand, 55% of students admit that sport is essential for a healthy lifestyle without stating that they actually do sport. Another concern is the amount of water teenagers in high schools drink daily. Only 12% of those questioned drink more than 2 litres of water a day, while other 12% drink even less than a litre a day. Meanwhile, 20.3% of the students questioned know how important is to drink enough water daily, but only 43.2% drink between 1.5 and 2 litres of water a day. The poll also showed that a third of the pupils in high schools questioned eat fast-food, some of them even 3 or 5 times a week. 96.9% of the students questioned associate a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet, but only 14.8% of them avoid salty, sweet and high fat or fast food products. But the youth also eat fruit daily: 53% eat 3 fruits a day at the most and only 18.5% eat 5 fruits at the most. They don’t have regular meals either: 59.8% of the students have 3 or 4 meals a day, and 17.9% of them have 2 meals a day at the most.
Personal hygiene was also part of the poll. Conclusion: only 46.2% of the students questioned wash their hands often. This is not very encouraging. Moreover, 20.3% of them wash their hands 5 times a day at the most.
Hepatic illnesses and how they are transmitted were another important point of the poll. 48.7% of those questioned know that hepatitis affects the liver and only 50% know that the disease is caused by a virus. The youth are not very well informed in what concerns the types of hepatitis. Only one person knew that there are 8 different types of hepatitis. Most of them knew 4 types at the most (30%) and 25% of them only 5 types. The transmission of the disease is not very well known either. Most of the people questioned (47.5%) think that it is transmitted orally, sexually and faecally, while 41.9% know that it can be transmitted from mother to foetus, through blood or by using medical instruments which aren’t sterile. Only 31.4% of them knew that dirty hands can cause hepatitis as well. Only 3% of the youth are aware of the fact that the transmission way varies from one type of hepatitis to another. 45.6% of them know someone who suffers from hepatitis.
Last but not least, the youth were asked whether they know what HIV/AIDS is. Although they all said yes, only 46.8% of them know that it is a viral infection.
Although far from enough, the GeneratiaS project emphasizes that young people are not well informed and that they are confused about the information they know. It is therefore obvious that long-term informing projects are absolutely necessary. The way we chose to speak to students in high schools and universities, i.e. through films, is a successful start of a dialogue with them. And if local NGOs got involved too, it would make a greater difference.
 The first edition of the educational mobile cinema on health topics, GeneratiaS, has come to an end. The project has brought together more than 2500 young people wanting to learn how to live a healthy life, how to prevent and cure serious illnesses and how to help the less lucky ones to integrate in a society which yet cannot be noted for its tolerance. Volunteering and personal initiatives were among the topics discussed at the event
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Archive 2010