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1. National strategy(ies)

2. Encouraging healthy lifestyles and healthy nutrition for young people

3. Health education and healthy lifestyles education in schools

4. Peer-to-peer education approaches

5. Collaboration and partnerships

6. Raising awareness on healthy lifestyles and on factors affecting the health and well-being of young people

National strategy(ies)

The operational objectives of the National Health Programme for 2021-2025 promise, among other things, prevention of overweight and obesity, including promoting correct nutrition, courses in those fields for professional groups engaged in the fight with obesity and overweight, consumer research in the fields of nutritional preferences, pro-health fiscal politics aiding the fight against overweight and obesity, creating and managing nutritional principles, monitoring, early diagnosis and intervention in the cases of overweight and obesity or arterial hypertension in children, and research into the food and nutrition habits of the Polish population. It is for this purpose that the National Centre  for Food Education (Narodowe Centrum Edukacji Żywieniowej) was established on the initiative of the Institute for Food and Nutrition and because "it is necessary to disseminate knowledge about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles, make a positive change to eating attitudes and habits, thus improving the health of Poles". In response to the population’s need for access to free diet advice, the Centre runs an on-line nutrition advice centre - an on-line diet clinic where dieticians can be consulted individually.

Encouraging healthy lifestyles and healthy nutrition for young people

Until 2020, under the National Health Program for the years 2016-2020 (Narodowy Program Zdrowia na lata 2016-2020) programs functioned as its independent parts coordinated, implemented and monitored mainly by the Minister of Health serve the purpose of reducing the young generation’s risky behaviours: The National Programme for Prevention and Solving Alcohol Problems; The Programme for Limiting Health Consequences of Using Tobacco and Related Products, The Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction. In the National Health Program for years 2021-2025 (Narodowy Program Zdrowia na lata 2021-2025), addiction prevention is enshrined as an operational goal, under which policies are designated, including the prevention of addictions to alcohol, psychoactive substances, and tobacco, as well as behavioral addiction. However, they do not have the status of independent programs. These policies refer to young people mostly with regards to integrated addiction prevention. Within each policy, youths are mostly targeted via health education and addiction prevention schemas (universal, selective, and directed), via monitoring and researching the situation in various kinds addiction, and via expanding and increasing the quality of services for children from families with an alcohol abuse issue (as well as children suffering from familial violence). Young people are not specifically mentioned under policy directed at preventing specific types of addiction. Similarly, they are only rarely mentioned with regards to the program’s enactors, only in the context of actions taken in order to decrease the use of psychoactive substances. Without a doubt, under all these policies, work is done that is directed at youth as a part of the whole of society. Specific actions addressed to young people emerge then either from specifying policy enacted by the National Health Program for the years 2021-2025, or from separate legal acts. An example of the latter is the Minister of Health’s directive from the 23rd of November, 2021, regarding the pilot program of therapeutic action addressed to children and youth abusing new digital technologies, and their families. The program was predicted to run from the 1st of December 2021 until 30th of June 2023 (now was prolonged to June 2025) and is supposed to decrease the symptoms of new digital technologies abuse.

Education for Safety (Edukacja dla bezpieczeństwa), a subject provided in the core curriculum imposed by the Ministry of National Education, envisages education in public safety, including "the preparation for emergency response in cases of emergency (mass accidents and disasters), first aid fundamentals" and health-enhancing education. It also involves transferring the knowledge of civilisation diseases (hypertension, diabetes, lipid metabolism disorders, obesity), cancer, psychiatric diseases, those linked to risk behaviours and addictions, including their prevention and risk factors. Interestingly, the subject involves wide cooperation between schools and local police units, fire services, training centres, army units and non-governmental organisations such as Volunteer Fire Fighters, Polish Red Cross, National Defence League.

Health education and healthy lifestyles education in schools

Polish schools provide no regular and compulsory education focussing on relationships and sex. The Regulation of the Minister of National Education on Framework Teaching Plans for Public Schools (Rozporządzenie ministra edukacji narodowej w sprawie ramowych planów nauczania dla publicznych szkół) only proposes an optional subject, Family Life Education. However, while there is no number of hours specified, there is a reference to the provisions of the Act on Family Planning, Protection of Human Foetus and Pregnancy Termination Conditions (Ustawa o planowaniu rodziny, ochronie płodu ludzkiego i warunkach dopuszczalności przerywania ciąży) which provides that the minister will issue a regulation to determine the way of teaching and the contents of the subject.

Starting in September 2025, a new course is to be introduced in schools, called Health education (Edukacja zdrowotna), meant to replace the previously taught introduction to family life courses. The course is meant to systematically tackle issues of health and to include “matters of psychical and physical health, as well as issues of good nourishment, addiction avoidance, and sexual education”.

Polish young people needing support in crisis situations can talk to a free and anonymous helpline for children and youth by dialling 116 111 - a number that is the same all over Europe. It is run by the Empowering Children Foundation, which responds to requests for moral support in difficult and crisis situations. The helpline is again financed by the State. Under the previous government, the helpline lost government financial support and remained operational thanks to the support of business partners. 

The Ombudsman for Children’s Rights established in 2022 a helpline for children and youth – 800 12 12 12. The helpline is available 24/7 and includes a chat option.

Peer-to-peer education approaches

No information available

Collaboration and partnerships

Information campaigns focussing on healthy lifestyles and factors influencing health and well-being usually have a broader scope and are aimed at all age groups. Some campaigns, however, are addressed to families or parents, and to children and youth through them. An example would be the Na Zdrowie campaign (Na Zdrowie). Its goal is to “raise awareness among adults about the negative consequences of alcohol on human health (both physically, as well as psychically”, and is aimed at, among others, young adults. Other educational programmes are also being conducted, like “Healthy lifestyle among children and youths” (Zdrowy styl życia dzieci i młodzieży), which is being realized by the Investment Appraisal Department at the Ministry of Health, under the “Health” programme which is co-financed by the Norway Funds and the national budget. Its goals are to promote a healthy lifestyle among the youngest generation and to increase awareness across all levels of the society among various factors influencing the health of children and youths. The project is being realized with the help of two partners from Norway: Norwegian Oncological Center, and Health Care Center in the Verdal Municipality.

Raising awareness on healthy lifestyles and on factors affecting the health and well-being of young people

The Ministry of Health supported projects realized under the program called Tooth Rot Prevention for the Youth, financed from the Operational Program Knowledge, Education, Development 2014-2020, Priority Area V: Support for Public Health. The programme was directed at young people aged 15-19. The goals of the programme were the following: to raise awareness on teeth hygiene among young people, raising awareness on the right eating habits, diet and healthy lifestyle as factors influencing the health of teeth. The Ministry of National Education used to run an educational-preventive campaign regarding tooth cavities called Students Without Cavities. It was directed at students in above-elementary schools in select voivodeships, and it was meant to raise awareness about tooth cavities and mouth diseases, as well as ways of preventing them. As a part of the programme, educational courses were held, alongside preventive dental check-ups.

In September 2024, a “joint programme of the Ministry of National Education and the Ministry of Health regarding vaccinating students aged 9 to 14 for the HPV virus”. It includes boys and girls aged 9 to 14. It is an elective vaccination campaign, and the government is encouraging all the schools in the country to participate.7.5 Mental health