Promoting a Healthy Life Through Gender Equity

Mental health, understood as the individual or group well-being at an emotional, psychological, and/or social level, affects up to 35% of university students, of whom only 16.4% seek or receive help from healthcare professionals. Despite this prevalence and its impact on academic performance and the challenges faced by universities in terms of limited resources to address this situation, most research tends to focus on primary and/or secondary education stages. Consequently, there is limited research on the reasons why university students experience mental health problems and why they do not seek help.

Physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour could be protective factors for mental health in both children and adolescents. In this regard, according to data from the DESK-Uni at UVic-UCC, university students report engaging in low levels of physical activity, with female students reporting lower levels than male students. Additionally, adolescent girls report more mental health problems than boys. Therefore, there is a need for research and projects that consider the gender bias in health that exists in our society, including universities. This bias could explain why girls engage in less physical activity or claim to do so and why they experience more mental health problems. Thus, the purpose of the project is to improve or reduce gender inequalities within the university community and their impact on health behaviour (physical activity/sedentary behaviour) and mental health of both students and staff members.

Overall, the project aims to decrease the risks of experiencing mental health problems in the university environment by enhancing identification and promoting health-related behaviours that act as protective factors (e.g., physical activity). This will be done by considering the intersectionality of inequality axes present in our society and reproduced within the university setting. To do it, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG; 3-4-5) will be taken in consideration.