Social and cultural realities of modern society have actualized the increase in the value of a healthy lifestyle, which gives a person some guarantees in a difficult situation of environmental, socio-economic, biotechnological threats. In this regard, one of the priority tasks of the modern education system is preservation and strengthening of the younger generation's health. Students belong to a socially unprotected group. Therefore, the issues of preserving, strengthening and forming a value attitude to health is one of the most important problems of modernity. The education system, being the basis for the stabilization and development of the social structure, must ensure the formation of a personality with certain needs that will contribute to health preservation. Today, the number of students leading a sedentary lifestyle and subject to such bad habits as smoking, drinking alcohol, etc. remains stable. The article discusses the problem of social stimulation of the formation of students' value attitudes towards a healthy lifestyle, analyzes approaches to basic concepts. These include «incentive», «social stimulation», «pedagogical stimulation», «health», «healthy lifestyle». Also, the principles of activity of university teachers on the formation of students' value attitude to a healthy lifestyle have been determined.