The relationship between health promotion and renewable energy sources in the attitudes of Polish medical students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between attitudes toward health promotion and attitudes toward renewable energy sources among young adults. The study was conducted among 504 medical students, with an average age of 22.33 years. The mean level of intensity of pro-renewable energy attitude was 9.2 points (out of 15 points), and the mean level of pro-health attitude was 16.85 points (out of 22 points). Statistical analysis was used to assess the relationship between variables. All values of the coefficient of statistical significance (p) below 0.05 were interpreted as indicating significant relationships. Pro-renewable energy attitudes were higher among women (p = 0.043), left-leaning individuals (p = 0.001), and part-time students (p = 0.032). Pro-health attitudes were higher among individuals with strong religious commitment (p = 0.001), those who rated their health as very good (p = 0.001), and those studying dietetics (p = 0.027). It turned out that the higher the level of health-promoting attitude, the higher the level of pro-ecological attitude (p < 0.001). Attitudes in favor of renewable energy sources varied by gender, political views, and field of study. Pro-health attitudes varied by religious commitment, self-assessed health, and field of study. The higher the level of health-promoting attitude, the higher the level of pro-renewable energy attitude.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-36180-3.

Introduction

Attitude is understood as a relatively stable structure of cognitive and emotional processes, and also behavioral tendencies, which expresses a specific attitude towards a specific object¹. In the case of the presented study, specific objects were selected: the health-promoting behaviors² and renewable energy sources³.

Health-promoting behaviors are conscious actions aimed at improving or maintaining good health². Shaping health-promoting attitudes in adolescents can take place institutionally. An example may be educational activities undertaken by health promoting schools^4,5. This type of intervention is implemented by school principals⁴, covering students, but also teachers and other school staff⁵. An example of non-institutional shaping of health-promoting attitudes by young people is actively seeking information on their own in the media⁶ or passively listening to information on television⁷. The implementation of health-promoting behaviors is determined by the focus on them and their acceptance⁸. Young adults studying medicine are among those whose daily health-promoting behaviors can serve as role models for patients⁹.

Renewable energy sources are understood to be continuously obtained and not exhausting. They are a modern alternative to fossil fuels and are perceived as an important factor contributing to stopping dangerous climate changes on our planet³. Also in this case, in order to raise the ecological awareness of society and trigger pro-ecological activities, modern, targeted educational activities are carried out in schools¹⁰. Dangerous climate change is associated with global warming and manifests itself as violent weather phenomena, rising sea levels, increased fire risk, and species extinction¹¹. For example, climate change has a negative impact on sleep and a bidirectional impact on physical activity¹², air pollution promotes atopy and susceptibility to infections¹³. Contemporary unfavorable climate changes and air pollution are considered as factors shaping health-promoting behavior^12,13, and the possibility of preventing them is considered a priority³. Currently, behavioral medicine is also expected to respond to climate change¹⁴.

The relationship between energy technologies and renewable energy on the one hand, and human health on the other, has been the subject of relatively recent research. Among others, researchers have focused on how energy technology needs to adapt to new health challenges. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a roughly 5% increase in the US residential sector electricity consumption share in 2020 compared to 2019 due to stay-at-home orders, which could impact grid reliability and resilience. Such studies highlight the importance of designing energy efficient and low-cost cooling and heating technologies for residential buildings to protect vulnerable populations from the health consequences of rising temperatures due to climate change¹⁵. In the European Union, the use of renewable energy has been observed to have a positive impact on population health indicators. While non-renewable energy use may contribute to increased health risks, the use of renewable energy can positively impact public health and increase government spending on healthcare. Analyses show that this relationship is unidirectional for countries that joined the European Union before 2000 and bidirectional for those that joined after the year 2000¹⁶. The results obtained were confirmed in research conducted in a group of 28 countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Based on this, the authors propose that politicians should invest more in renewable energy projects and also encourage private sector businesspeople to engage in such ventures. This is especially important because fossil energy resources are exhaustible and they damage the environment in various ways¹⁷. The European Union is also a place where serious research is undertaken on the relationship between the use of renewable energy sources in selected sectors (transport, electricity, heating, and cooling) and the prevalence of selected groups of diseases¹⁸. There are more empirical findings that support relationship between improved health and use of renewable energy. The positive relationship between ‘clean’ energy and human health suggests that renewable energy helps to control chronic diseases thus leading to high life expectancy, low mortality, and fewer incidence of some diseases, such as tuberculosis¹⁹.

Developing positive attitudes toward health promotion and renewable energy sources among Polish medical students could lead to future efforts to promote these attitudes among healthcare professionals, both among patients and the general public. Considering the collected information^2–19, implementing health promotion policies simultaneously with policies promoting renewable energy sources could have a significant impact on improving individual and societal health, as well as the climate situation. It is unclear whether Polish medical students with more health-promoting attitudes have more favorable attitudes towards renewable energy sources. No similar studies were found among Polish medical students.

This study is intended to assess and analyze the attitudes towards renewable energy sources presented by the contemporary generation of young adults represented by students of the Collegium Medicum of the University of Rzeszow and their relationship with the attitude towards health promotion. In the field of medical education, the following factors are considered to differentiate the attitudes studied: fields of study, level of education, and study mode. The author’s experience in researching diverse attitudes among medical students shows that the field of study is a documented differentiating factor²⁰, and the level of education and mode of study have been taken into account, but its role as a differentiating factor has not been documented so far²¹. The authors would like to emphasize that the literature on the subject lacks research on the relationship between health promotion and attitudes toward renewable energy sources. Therefore, in this respect, our study can be considered innovative.

Materials and methods

The study was prospective, survey-based, single-center and cross-sectional. Before starting it, the consent of the Rector of the University of Rzeszow and a positive opinion of the Bioethics Committee of the University of Rzeszow were obtained (resolution no. 10/03/2021, granted on March 25, 2021). The study was conducted among students of the Collegium Medicum of the University of Rzeszow in 2021–2022 and was based on a survey prepared by the authors. This method is often used in research by other authors²². In our case, the survey was sent to students in electronic form or delivered in printed form. The inclusion criterion for the study was to complete the survey. Criteria for exclusion from the study: failure to complete the survey (equivalent to lack of consent to participate) or partial completion of the survey (equivalent to withdrawal from the study). Informed consent was obtained from all respondents. Ultimately, the survey was completed by 504 students out of 4118 studying at the Collegium Medicum of the University of Rzeszow (12.14%).

For the purposes of this study, the following research tools were developed: the “Health-Promoting Attitudes Scale” and the “Scale of Attitudes Promoting Renewable Energy Sources”. The questions were generated to reflect commonly expressed beliefs about health promotion activities or the use of renewable energy sources, including those expressed by the students themselves. At the same time, based on publicly available information on specific educational content and goals promoted in Polish health, environmental, and social policy before March 2021^23–49, it is known that these beliefs are true. After conducting a pilot study among 30 students, some questions in the “Scale of Attitudes Promoting Renewable Energy Sources” were reformulated. Instead of the simple “I would like to install,” the dual phrases “I would like to install” and “I have installed” were used. The scales are presented as supplementary materials.

The level of attitude favoring renewable energy sources could range from 0 to 15 points, and the level of health-promoting attitude from 0 to 22 points. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the “Scale of Attitudes Promoting Renewable Energy Sources” is 0.742, and for the “Health-Promoting Attitudes Scale” − 0.672, respectively.

To examine the diversity of attitudes, the following differentiating factors were considered: gender (women, men), age, social environment (urban, rural), religious involvement (strong, moderate, weak, indifferent), political views (conservative, left-wing, liberal, undecided), self-assessment of health status (very good, good, moderate, or bad), field of study (dietetics, physiotherapy, medical, nursing, midwifery, electroradiology, emergency medical services, tourism and recreation, physical education), level of education (first—first 3 years of studies, second—subsequent years of studies), study mode (related to the economic factor: full-time—free studies, part-time - paid studies), and nutritional status (classified based on BMI value⁵⁰—underweight: <18.5, normal weight: 18.5–24.9 overweight: 25–29.9, obesity 30 ≥). The differentiating factors were determined based on the survey.

The results obtained were statistically analyzed. The mean, standard deviation, median, quartiles, and range are presented for quantitative variables. Absolute and relative frequencies (N and %) are provided for qualitative variables. Comparison of the values ​​of quantitative variables in two groups was performed using the Mann-Whitney test. Comparison of quantitative variable values in three or more groups was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis’s test. If statistically significant differences between groups are detected, a Dunn post hoc test should be performed to show which groups are significantly different from which. The correlations between the quantitative variables were analyzed using Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Nonparametric tests were chosen because the quantitative variables did not show a normal distribution (this was checked with the Shapiro-Wilk test). The rule was that groups smaller than 5% of the total number of respondents (i.e., in our case 25 people or smaller) were generally combined with others. The other fields of study included several fields that appeared sporadically: electroradiology, emergency medical services, tourism and recreation, and physical education (N = 12). The age groups were selected so that each had a similar number of respondents. The significance level of 0.05 was adopted in the analysis. Therefore, all p-values below 0.05 were interpreted as indicating significant relationships. The statistical analysis was performed in the R program, version 4.3.2⁵¹.

Results

Statistical characteristics of the studied group

There were 504 respondents in the study group; of these, 391 (77.58%) were women and 113 (22.42%) men. In other studies, conducted among medical students, the study group was also dominated by women⁹. The average age of the respondents was 22.33 years (standard deviation 3.76, median 21, lower quartile 20, upper quartile 23, minimum age 18, maximum age 46). 256 (50.79%) respondents came from an urban environment, 248 (49.21%) from a rural environment. Only 69 (13.69%) of the respondents indicated strong religious involvement, 248 (49.21%) indicated moderate religious involvement, 109 (21.63%) indicated weak religious involvement, and 78 (15.48%) indicated religious indifference. Political views were also diverse: conservative − 46 (9.13%) students, left-wing − 63 (12.50%), liberal − 81 (16.07%), and undecided − 314 (62.30%). Students rated their own health as very good 190 (37.70%), good 274 (54.37%), moderate 38 (7.54%), and poor 2 (0.40%). The mean level of BMI (body mass index) in the study group was 22.41 kg/m² (standard deviation 3.63, median 21.8, lower quartile 19.88, upper quartile 24.5, minimum BMI 15.1, maximum BMI 38.5 kg/m²). All respondents were students of the Collegium Medicum of the University of Rzeszow. Nutritional status was varied. It was found that 56 (11%) of the respondents were underweight, 348 (69%)—normal weight, 79 (16%)—overweight, and 21 (4%)—obese. They represented fields such as dietetics (N = 34, 6.75%), electroradiology (N = 3, 0.60%), physiotherapy (N = 285, 56.55%), medicine (N = 78, 15.48%), nursing (N = 60, 11.90%), midwifery (N = 35, 6.94%), emergency medical services (N = 1, 0.20%), tourism and recreation (N = 4, 0.79%) and physical education (N = 4, 0.79%). In 341 (67.66%) cases, these were students of the first level of studies, and in 163 (32.34%) of the second level of studies. Also, 383 (75.99%) respondents studied full-time and 121 (24.01%) studied in part-time mode.

The attitude in favor of renewable energy sources and the attitude in favor of health promotion was assessed on points. The statistical characteristics of the level of attitude favoring renewable energy sources are as follows: mean value 9.2, standard deviation 2.08, median 10, lower quartile 8, upper quartile 11, minimum value 3, maximum value 14 (in unit points). The statistical characteristics of the level of health promotion attitude are as follows: mean value 16.85, standard deviation 3.09, median 17, lower quartile 15, upper quartile 19, minimum value 8, maximum value 22 (in unit points).

Diversification of the attitude favoring renewable energy sources

The attitude towards renewable energy sources was at a higher level:

• in women compared to men (p = 0.043),

• among people with left-wing views compared to undecided and with conservative views, but also among people with liberal views compared to those with conservative views (p = 0.001),

• among part-time students compared to full-time students (p = 0.032) (Table 1).

Table 1.

Diversification of the attitude favoring renewable energy sources—statistically significant relationships.

Parameter	Group	Attitude favoring renewable energy sources [points]			p
		M ± SD	Median	Quartile
Gender	Women (N = 391)	9.32 ± 2	10	8–11	p = 0.043 *
	Men (N = 113)	8.79 ± 2.29	9	7–10
Political views	Conservative (N = 46)	8.76 ± 1.99	9	8–10	p = 0.001 *
	Left-wing (N = 63)	9.95 ± 1.66	10	9–11	B > D,A C > A
	Liberal (N = 81)	9.37 ± 2.16	10	8–11
	Undecided (N = 314)	9.07 ± 2.11	9	8–10
Study mode	Full-time (N = 383)	9.1 ± 2.09	9	8–11	p = 0.032 *
	Part-time (N = 121)	9.52 ± 2.02	10	9–11

M, arithmetic mean; SD, standard deviation; p, statistical significance coefficient; A, Conservative; B, Left-wing; C, Liberal; D, Undecidedl; comparison of 2 groups: Mann-Whitney test; comparison of > 2 groups: Kruskal-Wallis test + post-hoc analysis (Dunn’s test); *statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05).

Age, social environment of origin, religious involvement, self-assessment of health, BMI, field of study, and level of education do not differentiate the attitude towards renewable energy sources (Table 2).

Table 2.

Diversification of the attitude favoring renewable energy sources - statistically insignificant relationships.

Parameter	Group	Attitude favoring renewable energy sources [points]			p
		M ± SD	Median	Quartile
Age [years]	< 21 (N = 158)	9.02 ± 2.1	9	8–10	p = 0.4
	21 (N = 115)	9.31 ± 2.02	10	8–11
	22–23 (N = 110)	9.18 ± 2.14	10	8–11
	> 23 (N = 121)	9.34 ± 2.05	10	8–11
Social environment	Urban (N = 256)	9.12 ± 2,2	10	8–11	p = 0.781
	Rural (N = 248)	9.27 ± 1,95	10	8–11
Religious involvement	Strong (N = 69)	9.45 ± 2.19	10	9–11	p = 0.527
	Moderate (N = 248)	9.12 ± 2.01	9	8–11
	Weak (N = 109)	9.26 ± 1.95	10	8–11
	Indifferent (N = 78)	9.13 ± 2.37	10	8–11
Self-assessment of health status	Very good (N = 190)	9.29 ± 2.13	10	8–11	p = 0.443
	Good (N = 274)	9.18 ± 2.04	9	8–11
	Moderate or bad (N = 40)	8.93 ± 2.1	9,5	8–10
Field of study	Dietetics (N = 34)	8.76 ± 2.8	9	7–11	p = 0.547
	Physiotherapy (N = 285)	9.12 ± 2.05	9	8–11
	Medical (N = 78)	9.44 ± 2.19	10	9–11
	Nursing (N = 60)	9.3 ± 1.84	9.5	8–11
	Midwifery (N = 35)	9.51 ± 1.6	10	8.5–10
	Others ** (N = 12)	9.25 ± 2.05	10	7.75–11
Level of education	First (N = 341)	9.11 ± 2.07	9	8–11	p = 0.072
	Second (N = 163)	9.39 ± 2.08	10	8–11
Nutritional status	Underweight (N = 56)	8.54 ± 2.49	9	7–10	p = 0.08
	Normal weight (N = 348)	9.25 ± 2.01	10	8–11
	Overweight (N = 79)	9.56 ± 1.92	10	8–11
	Obesity (N = 21)	8.76 ± 2.21	9	8–10

M, arithmetic mean; SD, standard deviation; p, statistical significance coefficient, comparison of 2 groups: Mann–Whitney test; comparison of > 2 groups: Kruskal–Wallis test + post-hoc analysis (Dunn’s test)

*Statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05), **Others - electroradiology, emergency medical services, tourism and recreation, physical education.

Diversification of health-promoting attitudes

A health-promoting attitude was present at a higher level:

• in people who are strongly religiously involved than in people who are moderately committed, religiously indifferent, and people who are weakly religiously involved, but also in people who are moderately involved in religion compared to people who are weakly religiously involved (p = 0.001),

• in people who evaluate their health as very good compared to people who assess their health as good, but also in people who assess their health as good compared to people who assess their health as moderate or bad (p = 0.001),

• in people studying dietetics compared to people studying medicine or physiotherapy (p = 0.027) (Table 3).

Table 3.

Diversification of health-promoting attitudes - statistically significant relationships.

Parameter	Group	Health promoting attitude [points]			p
		M ± SD	Median	Quartile
Religious involvement	Strong (N = 69)	18.04 ± 2.63	18	16–20	p = 0.001 *
	Moderate(N = 248)	16.92 ± 3.12	18	15–19	A > B,D, C B > C
	Weak (N = 109)	16.14 ± 3	16	14–18
	Indifferent (N = 78)	16.54 ± 3.24	17	14–19
Self-assessment of health status	Very good (N = 190)	17.34 ± 2.91	18	15–19.75	p = 0.001 *
	Good (N = 274)	16.74 ± 3.1	17	14–19
	Moderate or bad (N = 40)	15.22 ± 3.29	15,5	13–18	E > F > G
Field of study	Dietetics (N = 34)	18.29 ± 3.07	18	16.5–21	p = 0.027 *
	Physiotherapy (N = 285)	16.5 ± 3.25	17	14–19
	Medical (N = 78)	16.95 ± 2.84	17	15–19	H > J,C
	Nursery (N = 60)	17.07 ± 2.76	17,5	15.75–19
	Midwifery (N = 35)	17.69 ± 2.41	18	16–20
	Others ** (N = 12)	16.67 ± 2.84	16	14.75–18.5

M, arithmetic mean, SD, standard deviation, p, statistical significance coefficient, comparison of 2 groups: Mann-Whitney test; comparison of > 2 groups: Kruskal-Wallis test + post-hoc analysis (Dunn’s test); *statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05).

Age, gender, social environment of origin, political views, BMI, level of education, and mode of study do not differentiate the attitude towards health promotion (Table 4).

Table 4.

Diversification of health-promoting attitudes - statistically insignificant relationships.

Parameter	Group	Health promoting attitude [points]			p
		M ± SD	Median	Quartile
Gender	Women (N = 391)	16.95 ± 3.06	17	15–19	p = 0.151
	Men (N = 113)	16.5 ± 3.18	16	14–19
Age [years]	< 21 (N = 158)	16.97 ± 3.13	17	15–19	p = 0.606
	21 (N = 115)	16.49 ± 3.15	17	14–19
	22–23 (N = 110)	16.95 ± 3.06	18	15–19
	> 23 (N = 121)	16.93 ± 3.02	17	15–19
Social environment	Urban (N = 256)	16.74 ± 3.14	17	15–19	p = 0.403
	Rural (N = 248)	16.95 ± 3.04	17,5	15–19
Political views	Conservative (N = 46)	17 ± 2.94	17,5	15–19	p = 0.105
	Left-wing (N = 63)	17.17 ± 3.06	17	15.5–19
	Liberal (N = 81)	17.47 ± 3.07	18	16–20
	Undecided (N = 314)	16.6 ± 3.11	17	14–19
Level of education	First (N = 341)	16.77 ± 3.16	17	14–19	p = 0.454
	Second (N = 163)	17.01 ± 2.95	17	15–19
Study mode	Full-time (N = 383)	16.89 ± 3.07	17	15–19	p = 0.7
	Part-time (N = 121)	16.69 ± 3.18	17	15–19
Nutritional status	Underweight (N = 56)	15.88 ± 3.39	16	13–18.25	p = 0.073
	Normal weight (N = 348)	16.98 ± 2.98	18	15–19
	Overweight (N = 79)	17.18 ± 3.08	17	15–20
	Obesity (N = 21)	15.95 ± 3.72	16	14–18

A graphical summary of the statistically significant results discussed in sections 3.2 and 3.3 is presented in Table 5.

Table 5.

Attitudes: favoring renewable energy sources and promoting health - Spearman’s rank correlation.

Attitudes: favoring renewable energy sources and promoting health

The relationship between the attitude favoring renewable energy sources and the health promotion attitude is positive (Spearman’s correlation coefficient is 0.267) and statistically significant (p < 0.001). The higher the level of health-promoting attitude, the higher the level of pro-renewable energy attitude. And vice versa: the higher the level of energy-promoting attitude, the higher the health-promoting attitude (Table 6).

Table 6.

Attitudes: favoring renewable energy sources and promoting health - Spearman’s rank correlation.

The health-promoting attitude [points]
p < 0.001 *, r = 0.267	The attitude favoring renewable energy sources [points]

p, statistical significance coefficient; r, Spearman’s correlation coefficient.

*Statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05)

Fig. 1.

Visual abstract presenting the main results of the study.

Discussion

When planning the energy transformation in our country, decision makers should be aware of attitudes towards renewable energy technologies represented by various social groups and the impact of modern energy facilities on the lives of people. Research conducted in countries of the European Union shows that attitudes in this area depend, among others, on the perceived impact on the health of the population (combustion facilities were perceived more negatively) and the impact on the landscape (wind energy facilities were perceived more negatively)⁵². This example shows that a relationship between attitudes toward renewable energy sources and health attitudes should be expected, especially in higher-educated social groups.

In our own research, the following factors were considered that differentiate the attitude favoring renewable energy sources and the attitude toward health: age, gender, social environment, religious involvement, political views, self-assessment of health, BMI, field of study, level of education, and mode of study. Similar differentiating factors have been considered as shaping attitudes toward other issues^20,53. Other authors also considered factors differentiating health-related attitudes differently, such as health concern, time per week spent searching online for health-related information⁹, social norms, attitude toward gender roles²², educational activities^54,55, and having a close person⁵⁶.

The health promotion attitude was differentiated by religious involvement, self-assessment of health status, and field of study. The health-promoting attitude was more intense in people who: were more religiously involved, assessed their health better, and in people studying dietetics compared to those studying medicine or physiotherapy. In the study by Hwang and Oh, men presented a higher level of health-related attitudes and people who devoted more time per week searching online for health-related information, or had a higher level of education. In this case, religious involvement was not a factor differentiating health-promoting attitudes⁹. In the research of Choi and Lee, the adopted social norms determine reproductive health and indirectly influence reproductive health promoting behaviors²³. BMI was chosen as a factor differentiating attitudes, but our own research did not obtain statistically significant relationships. It is believed that selected health-promoting behaviors that meet the criteria of being active and eating well may lead to a lower BMI, although research results are not conclusive⁵⁷. Young adult women, whose close people exhibited health-promoting attitudes/behaviors, manifest a higher level of health-promoting attitudes/behaviors and have lower BMI values ​​compared to those who were deprived of proximity to people exhibiting health-promoting attitudes/behaviors⁵⁶. Overweight and obesity were observed in 57% of working physicians, as well as unfavorable health behaviors⁵⁸. It is particularly interesting that people studying dietetics, compared to their peers studying medicine or physiotherapy, they presented a higher intensity of a health-promoting attitude. Currently, the importance of dietitians as advocates of environmentally sustainable diets is emphasized⁵⁹. It is emphasized that health-promoting attitudes among students are unstable⁶⁰. A factor that improves health-promoting attitudes is targeted educational interventions^54,55,60,61. It is believed that moving away from fossil fuel may offer a rare win-win strategy for a health society with a cleaner environment and lower emissions of greenhouse gases^62,63. The presented study clearly showed that the higher the level of health-promoting attitude, the higher the level of favoring renewable energy attitude. So, people striving for health have a more positive attitude to renewable energy sources.

Other factors also differentiate the attitude favoring renewable energy. In our own research, the attitude towards renewable energy sources was differentiated by gender, political views, and mode of study. Also in our own research, the attitude in favor of renewable energy sources was presented at a higher level among women, people with left-wing or liberal views, and students of part-time studies. Gender has been proven to play a role in differentiating attitudes. Women were more empathetic towards rape victims²⁰ and more open to taking actions to limit coronavirus infection²¹. The success of the state’s sustainable development program, including the implementation of renewable energy sources, depends on political attitudes and strategies⁵⁸. Meanwhile, one of the development priorities is renewable energy⁶⁴. A persuasive message in favor of a pro-environmental proposal to influence attitude change through a self-validation process⁶⁵. The study results indicate that the intensity of attitudes towards renewable energy sources may also be related to specific political views. Currently, there is an increasing interest in renewable energy sources, and the attitude toward them is becoming more and more positive, which results in an increasing demand for them⁶⁶. Part-time students are required to pay tuition fees. This suggests that a socioeconomic factor may be a potential differentiating factor of attitude favoring renewable energy. Research conducted in Poland indicates positive attitudes toward renewable energy sources, but concerns about costs⁶⁷. Local strategies are expected to provide financial incentives to facilitate the installation of renewable energy sources^64,68. Furthermore, our study indicates the need to include the topic of renewable energy sources in medical curricula, which would have a positive impact on raising students’ awareness in this area. Thanks to this, students of the Collegium Medicum would have the opportunity to combine modern knowledge about renewable energy sources with the context of everyday life and also professional life. This need is also confirmed by the results of studies conducted in other countries⁶⁹. This is all the more important because the low knowledge of renewable energy sources observed in many countries of the world constitutes significant barriers to increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the energy balance of a given country. Short-term promotional campaigns used by governments often do not bring the expected results and do not increase the willingness of society to allocate more financial resources to the construction of renewable energy technology facilities⁷⁰.

Limitations

There are potential limitations related to the sample and methodology, such as: (1) lack of information on whether respondents differ significantly from nonrespondents, which may be important for the generalization of results; (2) risk of self-assessment bias; (3) reduced reliability of for the “Health-Promoting Attitudes Scale” (internal consistency was assessed: Cronbach’s alpha coefficient value of − 0.672 is usually considered acceptable, but too low for new scales).

Practical significance of the study

The study indicates the possibility of influencing the level of attitude favoring renewable energy sources and the need to include the topic of renewable energy sources in medical curricula. Shaping attitudes that favor pro-health behaviors in medical students positively differentiates the level of attitudes that favor renewable energy.

Conclusions

Attitudes toward renewable energy sources differ by gender, political views and mode of study. Health-promoting attitudes were differentiated by religious commitment, self-rated health status, and field of study. The higher the level of health-promoting attitude, the higher the level of pro-renewable energy attitude. People with health-promoting attitudes already understand that attitudes favoring renewable energy sources also translate into health benefits. Political views, mode of study, religious commitment, self-rated health status, and field of study are modifiable factors. Both attitudes can be modified and shaped. An example of another intervention could be the revision of curricula of medical studies, which should include topics in the field of renewable energy and combine them with health-promoting attitudes. Because only systematic work with young people on shaping lasting attitudes of this kind can ensure that they are able to effectively cope with the challenges that arise in a changing world. After carrying out such an intervention, it should be examined whether there have been any changes in the level of pro-health and pro-renewable energy sources attitudes.

Suggestions for future research

Research on positive attitude toward health-promoting and renewable energy sources among medical students should be continued. It is important to develop educational interventions and assess the effects they bring. It is also necessary to monitor whether medical students with positive attitude toward health-promoting and renewable energy sources in the future as medical employees promote these positive attitudes among healthcare professionals, both among patients and the general public.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Author contributions

Perenc, L.: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing – original draft.Podgórska-Bednarz, J.: Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation.

Funding

This research was not supported by any funding.

Data availability

The final dataset utilized in this study is available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval and consent to participate

The study was carried out according to the ethical standards set out in the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Bioethics Committee of the University of Rzeszow (resolution no. 10/03/2021).