Dietary habits of selected groups of police officers in the context of stress reduction

Abstract

The aim of this work is to try to draw attention to the relationship between physical activity in one’s free time and the reduction of all kinds of stress symptoms. The authors assume to have worked out theoretical and empirical assumptions that will allow to find effective answers to the question posed: “Is the activity in sports and recreational activities of officers of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Poznań in free time a sufficiently effective form of fighting stress?” During the theoretical research the method of analysis and criticism of the literature, scientific research, monographic analysis and content analysis were used. Whereas, during the empirical research, a method of a diagnostic survey was applied, using a questionnaire consisting of 17 closed questions as a tool. The research was carried out by the authors at the turn of September and October 2017, on a group of 250 officers, from five of selected groups of officers from the Provincial Police Headquarters in Poznań. Correlations between variables were verified with the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Analyses were performed with the SPSS program. The daily diet is of great importance in the encounter with stress, and it is from changes in the dietary habits that the struggle should begin. Thanks to a proper diet, the body eases the effects of stress much more effectively and strengthens resistance to stress. The reflections discussed in the article illustrate  the view that the words of Hippocrates – “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food” (Wikipedia 2018) – are still valid.