The “Sportello Salute Giovani” project: habits, life styles, risk behaviours of Italian university students and future perspectives

The “Sportello Salute Giovani” project (“Youth Health Information Desk”) is the result of the collaboration between the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Roma (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Rome) and the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Italian National Institute of Health). The project also involved the faculties of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart that are located in Milan and Brescia. The “Sportello Salute Giovani” project was characterized by three purposes of action: 1) to provide students of all the universities of Rome, Milan and Brescia medical and psychopedagogic consultations on health related issues and on the prevention of risk behaviours; 2) to direct the students to the appropriate health care facilities where they could obtain the diagnosis and treatment of any potentially pathological condition; 3) to collect information on risk behaviour in university students across the country, with the aim of subsequently assessing the need and feasibility of preventive interventions.