Applying the whole-system settings approach to food within universities

Abstract

Universities represent an important setting for promoting health and well-being – and specifically for developing systems that support healthy and sustainable food Universities represent an important setting for promoting health and well-being – and specifically for developing systems that support healthy and sustainable food procurement and provision. By drawing on the whole-system settings approach and working within the framework offered by Healthy Universities, higher education institutions are in a strong position to address the full range of issues that make up the university ‘foodscape’, thereby promoting health in an integrated and far-reaching way that takes account of the relationships between environments and behaviours, and between staff, students and the wider community. Informed particularly by work in England, this paper uses a healthy settings model to explore and discuss how the Healthy Universities approach can help to ensure a holistic and integrated approach to addressing issues relating to food.