Author(s): HUA, X., YANG, X., YIN, G., Institution: YUNNAN TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS UNIVERSITY, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 279

Objective: This study aims to investigate the status quo of ecological environment and health literacy among university students in Yunnan Province, as well as to examine the potential impact of participation in outdoor physical activities on the development of ecological environment and health literacy.
Methods: Through questionnaire method, and mathematical and statistical methods, 1681 college students were randomly selected from universities and colleges in Yunnan Province in June-July 2022. Statistical chi-square test and regression analysis were conducted to investigate the participation of college students in outdoor physical activities and the score of a 47-question ecological environmental and health literacy questionnaire based on the "Citizens Environmental and Health Literacy Test Guide (Trial)" issued by Environment Not.
Results: The number of college students in Yunnan Province who had ecological and health literacy (70 points and above) was 493, accounting for 29.35%, and the number of students who did not have ecological and health literacy was 1187, accounting for 70.66%. Among them, 16.6% (279) of college students never participated in outdoor sports activities, 17.74% (298) participated less than once a month, 44.64% (750) participated 1-2 times a month, 9.94% (167) participated 3-4 times a month, and 11.13% (187) participated more than 4 times a month, and the results were analyzed by statistical chi-square test. The results showed that the frequency of outdoor physical activity affecting the ecological environment and health literacy of college students was 1-2 times per month (X2 =209.635, p<0.05), 3-4 times per month (X2 =43.448, p<0.05), and more than 4 times per month (X2 =7.186, p<0.05) with statistically significant differences.
Conclusion: The advancement of ecological civilization is a long-term, sustained process, and the promotion and implementation of ecological and environmental literacy is a crucial aspect of this endeavor. To achieve this, social sports organizations can play a key role in increasing individuals ecological knowledge and raising awareness of the importance of environmental protection. Eco-environmental organizations can leverage their power and influence by conducting environmental protection public welfare activities, providing educational materials, and delivering lectures to college students. Additionally, they can create environmental protection projects and guide college volunteers in carrying out environmental volunteer activities, thus encouraging them to actively participate in and become advocates for ecological protection. Community streets can also utilize social sports organizations to conduct engaging sports activities and promote ecological concepts and policies.
Colleges and universities, as key institutions, should make full use of their role as a primary channel to improve the quality of college students and carry out systematic and planned ecological literacy education. By doing so, university students can enhance their sense of responsibility for nature protection in their daily lives and form an emotional and value identity for environmental protection.
This study has several limitations:(1) The survey conducted in more than 10 universities inevitably suffers from the problem of insufficient coverage and limited representativeness in Yunnan Province. (2) The classification of outdoor physical activities is further subdivided to define the nature of physical activities at a narrow level, which does not fully represent the types of outdoor physical activities and needs to be further validated. (3) There is no way to accurately assess the seriousness of doing the questions in conducting realistic electronic questionnaires, resulting in hierarchical performance results, and more research is needed to continuously improve it.