Practical Possibilities and Perspectives for Health Promotion by Universities

Many German universities are already engaged in health promotion. To assess to what extent these activities correspond to the WHO concept of "Health promoting universities" (HPU), the structure and activities of health promotion are described. Various aspects of health promotion are addressed on the basis of a secondary analysis of an online database, hosted by the working party on HPU in Germany [Arbeitskreis Gesundheitsfordernde Hochschulen]. The analysis comes to the following conclusions: Even though more and more universities are being listed on the project database, the number of universities implementing health promotion based on the setting approach remains marginal. Particularly the principle target group, the students, are often excluded from activities. Most health promoting activities are single projects, which are rarely evaluated and may therefore not be sustainable. Nutrition is hardly considered as an important aspect of health promotion. The presence of departments of nutritional sciences and/or home economics does not appear to result in either more frequent implementation of the setting approach, nor in the promotion of nutritional aspects. However, universities with departments of nutritional sciences offer special opportunities and potential. Especially in the field of nutrition, they should be able to develop sustainable and future-oriented concepts for the health of their members and of the whole community.