BEIJING - Institutions of higher education in China should set up public courses on health education, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said in a guideline on the issue released Monday.

The courses will teach students about healthy lifestyles, disease prevention, mental health, sex and reproductive health, safety and handling of emergencies, according to the guideline.

Schools should select high-quality content for the courses based on the health issues that students are particularly concerned about, in order to attract them to take the courses, the guideline said.

Health education must become a part of the education system with in-class education playing a major role, while schools should integrate their educational resources to draw out health education plans that fit their own situations, the guideline continued.

According to the MOE, despite schools' efforts in bettering health education and students' health in recent years, some of the students are yet to be fully aware of their health, often illustrated by their lack of sleep and exercise, irregular daily routine, unhealthy diet and others.