Introduction. The formation of professional groups occurs under the influence of numerous social, medical, and physiological factors. This phenomenon has been known for a long time, but special attention was drawn to it only in the middle of the last century when the term “healthy worker effect” or self-selection was introduced. Since people with various clinical and physiological indices go to various professions, which affects mortality and morbidity in the future and makes it difficult to assess the impact of professional factors objectively. Later, there were identified several reasons determining the state of health of professional groups, particularly the so-called. “Healthy / unhealthy hiring effect.” Moreover, when comparing different working populations, the health status of workers in some cases depended more on the initial indices of employment than on working conditions. The most common method for evaluating the health status of children and adolescents is the assessment of their physical development, particularly the degree of obesity. An increased level of body fat can negatively affect the health of the cardiovascular system. The choice of a future specialty upon admission of adolescents to professional educational institutions may depend both on hygienic features and the self-assessment of their adaptability to working conditions in future activities.

Material and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted of 141 female students enrolled in the Saratov College of Water Transport, Construction, and Services. During the examination, an anthropometric study, a study of the structure of body mass, and a study of the state of the cardiovascular system were carried out.

Results. Body mass analysis found seamstress and hairdresser-trained girls to have lower body fat but higher levels of lean body mass and active cell mass. In contrast, insurance-trained girls and cook-trained girls had increased levels of body fat but lower levels of lean body mass and active cell mass. At the same time, girls who studied insurance and cooks had a higher load on the cardiovascular system. In these two groups, there were higher mean values of blood pressure and heart rate, as well as higher values of the cardiac index, index “rhythm” and index “myocardium”.

Conclusion. Signs of latent obesity associated with a deficit in active cell body mass and excess body fat with normal body mass index are found in a significant number of girls entering various specialties of a vocational educational institution. There are found differences in clinical and physiological indices between groups of female adolescents entering various specialties of a vocational educational institution, which can be regarded as signs of the effect of healthy/unhealthy hiring. Trends that arise already at the stage of formation of professional groups can continue in the course of work and affect the state of health in the future.