Exploring the practices and habits of mothers in raising and caring for young children, with particular regard to health education and health literacy

Nowadays, health has become an important value, which can be interpreted both on an individual and social level. From the point of view of laying the foundation for a healthy life path, the early years of life are of particular importance, because the health-supportive habits learned during the period before school age have a long-term effect. In the early years of life, the child spends a significant amount of time in both formal and informal educational arenas, so it is important that they support the child in establishing a healthy lifestyle with their uniform educational effect. In order to be able to implement differentiated education as a teacher, in which the formation of the child’s health literacy plays a prominent role, it is essential to get acquainted with the child’s family’s education and care practices and habits. In the spring of 2023, we conducted a pilot study with the participation of 10 mothers, in the framework of which we used semi-structured interviews to find out what kind of child raise and care practices and habits characterize the everyday life of families bringing up young children, what the mothers’ health literacy is like, how healthy lifestyle education is carried out in the family and what role and tasks parents and grandparents have in these life situations.