College Health

Summary

College life involves excitement, along with new challenges, risks, and responsibilities. You are meeting new people, learning new things, and making your own decisions. It can sometimes be stressful. You have to deal with pressures related to food, drink, appearance, drugs, and sexual activity.

There are steps you can take to stay healthy and safe while you’re in college:

• Eat a balanced diet
• Get enough sleep
• Get regular physical activity
• Maintain your health with checkups and vaccinations
• If you decide to have sex, practice safe sex
• Make smart choices about alcohol and drugs
• Get help if you are stressed or depressed

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Prevention and Risk Factors

• (Vaccines for) Adults Ages 19 Through 26 Department of Health and Human Services

Find an Expert

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• KidsHealth Nemours Foundation

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: College Student Health National Institutes of Health

Statistics and Research

• College Drinking National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Specifics

• College Eating and Fitness 101 Boston Children’s Hospital
• College Health: General Information (for Young Women) Boston Children’s Hospital
• College Women’s Health Food and Drug Administration
• College-Age and Young Adults National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Fall Semester — A Time for Parents To Discuss the Risks of College Drinking National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
• Managing Food Allergies at College Food Allergy Research & Education
• Meningococcal Disease: Information for Teens and College Students American Academy of Pediatrics
• Underage Drinking: MedlinePlus Health Topic National Library of Medicine

Related Issues

• College Health: Health Services and Common Health Problems Boston Children’s Hospital
• College Students with ADHD American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Encyclopedia

• College students and the flu Medical Encyclopedia

Start Here

• Health Care for College Students American Academy of Pediatrics
• Tips for College Health and Safety Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Journal Articles

• College Health

Games

• Quiz: How Much do You Know about Taking Good Care of Yourself? Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health