Objective: Introduction: The level of health and physical fitness of the students of Ukrainian higher educational institutions has worsened in recent years. It conditions the search for effective solutions to this problem and determines the significance of the investigation. The aim: To investigate the level of physical development and functional state of the students of agricultural educational institutions during study.
Patients and methods: Materials and methods: The investigation was conducted in Zhytomyr National Agroecological University in 2016-2018. Seventy three students (38 male and 35 female students) took part in the investigation. The level of physical development and functional state of students was defined according to the next tests: body length, body weight, wrist dynamometry, lung capacity, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The level of students' physical health was examined according to the methodology by G. L. Apanasenko and determined the interrelation of the levels of physical health of the students of different genders during the investigation.
Results: Results: It is determined that the majority of the students' investigated indicators are not improved during the first and the second years of study (p>0.05). The level of the students' physical health remained unchanged during study. Moreover, the health level of both male and female students is rated as low during all stages of the investigation.
Conclusion: Сonclusions: The conducted analysis proves the necessity of the current physical education system improvement at Ukrainian higher educational institutions in order to improve the students' physical development and functional state, health and efficiency of the educational and future professional activity.
Keywords: physical education; functional state; health; physical development; students.