Promoting healthy lifestyle continues to be done to increase the habit of living a healthy life for UGM academic community. One of these efforts was by organising the seminar themed Healthy Lifestyle for Healthy Staff and Students by oleh Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing UGM.
Dean of Faculty of Medicine, Prof. dr. Ova Emilia, M.Med.Ed., PhD., Sp.OG(K)., said being healthy is the biggest gift. One who is not healthy cannot go to an event or cannot do their job.
"Being healthy is the fundamental thing that needs our attention. Don’t make this the last thing in our list, saying that being healthy is important when we already got sick,” she said in the Faculty’s Auditorium on Tuesday (29/8).
Ova Emilia said the concept of health promoting university had emerged at UGM by the end of the 90s and in 2008, UGM started to promote anti-smoking as one of efforts for the health promoting university programme.
Many universities have adopted the health promoting university programme to prioritise healthy life on campus. It is ironic if the place for students, academics, and professors do not have such healthy people. "Such condition is certainly uncomfortable. Hence, the university became a strategic place to lead a healthy life, because its students, teaching and non-teaching staff are leaders in community to do so,” she said.
To allow that to happen, UGM has provided facilities to its academic community to do physical activities well, such as bike and bike track around the campus.
"UGM also offers general check-up treatment each year for teaching and non-teaching staff to know their health status and raise alert in order to keep fit and live healthily,” she added.
To meet the goal of healthy life, declaration of Health Promoting University was done by the Dean and followed by vice-deans and representatives from UGM units.
Dr. Supriyati, M.Sos., M.Kes, event chairperson of Health Promoting University, said UGM had made efforts related to healthy lifestyle. Starting in 2008, Rector of UGM declared UGM as a Non-Smoking Campus. Besides, facilities such as bikes and gym equipment are offered for the healthy lifestyle of the academic community.
"The Seminar and declaration of the health promoting university are expected to not stop here, but going forward, we will embrace more the healthy lifestyle,” she said.
Prof. Dra. Yayi Suryo Prabandari, M.Si., Ph.D, speakers of the seminar, said being healthy is the physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the condition of free from disease or disorder. Healthy is the condition when one can go to school, work, do social activities without the complaint of an illness.
"Besides, healthy means happy and ready to cooperate with other people or have social engagement,” she added.