A study on health awareness and health education needs among university students

Objectives This study is to investigate the health awareness and basic health-related knowledge possessed by university students, in order to seek ways to establish a healthy health awareness and culture in our society. It also aims to identify the content of health education that university students demand, which can be utilized to develop a health education program that can be offered as a liberal arts course. Methods To achieve this, a survey was conducted targeting 416 male and female college students at D university in Gyeonggi province, reflecting characteristics such as gender, major, and year of study, from april 2nd to april 18th, 2024. Interviews related to the content were conducted from april 30, 2024, to may 10, 2024. The survey results were statistically processed using the SPSS program 18.0, and the interview data were processed according to the STEP-BY-STEP analysis procedure. Results It was found that university students interpret the meaning of health to include not only physical health but also mental and social health. Regarding self-perception of obesity, 35.8% of the students perceived themselves as obese. In terms of health management and attitudes, it was analyzed that the most commonly practiced method to maintain one's health is a regular lifestyle, and the fundamental causes of diseases were analyzed to be inadequate nutrition and high stress. Regarding the need for health education in universities, 55.8% of the students reported that it is necessary. As for the preferred instructors for health education, students favored full-time professors specializing in the field of health. The preferred method of health education was found to be using various media, such as video materials. Conclusions Regarding university students' health awareness, the meaning of health was extended to include social and mental well-being. Negative perceptions of health were mostly attributed to excessive stress. The most commonly used method for maintaining health was living a regular lifestyle. More than half of the students recognized the need for health education in universities. As for the preferred instructors for health education, students favored full-time professors specializing in health. The preferred method of health education was the utilization of various media, such as video materials. The most preferred frequency and duration of health education classes were once per quarter, with each class lasting around one hour. The preferred contents of health education included mental health, sex education, and disease prevention and treatment.