The German University Sports Federation (ADH) and the German health insurance company Die Techniker (TK) have recently initiated a nationwide cooperation to support health promotion at German Universities. The project called Bewegt studieren – Studieren bewegt (loosely meaning be active while studying) was initiated to establish physical activities among students in their daily routines and everyday life.

According to a study that was carried out by the TK, three out of four students feel stressed. Physical exercise can be a starting point to counteract stressful factors and thereby have a positive impact on a stable health. For this reason, adh and TK initiated the project. At the kick-off event on October 25th and 26th at the University of Kaiserslautern, the participating universities had the opportunity to present their projects and to get in lively exchange with other project coordinators.



"Students who are active on a regular basis can strengthen their physical and psychosocial resources. We have asked our member universities to develop projects for a movement-oriented student-life," says Mr Christoph Fischer, Secretary General of ADH. The call was successful: over 50 universities submitted their project outlines. A committee then selected 32 projects from all over Germany, which will now be funded with up to 15,000 euros each within a time span of 18 months. Mr Brigitte Steinke, TK-expert on the topic of Healthy University, said: "We do not just want to finance the project, but we also want to help to implement the ideas and bring them to start." Therefore, the projects will be supported by TK-health experts and will be assisted and accompanied by members of the adh as well as the TK.



More information on the initiative as well as on the 32 project ideas can be found on www.adh.de/projekte/bewegt-studieren-studieren-bewegt.html