Healthy Campus will encourage physical activity and the availability of healthy choices in a variety of fields.

Universities from all over the world will be brought onto one platform to share ideas and best practices.

"Through this project, FISU will provide a unique and very important tool to universities around the world to promote the values of physical activity, health and nutrition among their student community," said FISU President Oleg Matytsin.

"This project is really like a bridge between elite sport and the larger student community. 

"Every year, there may be 10,000 or 20,000 athletes who participate in our events but there are more than 150 million university students across the globe."

In attempting to benefit the lives of a greater number of students, FISU has used seven universities in seven different countries to pilot the scheme.

They are the University of Turin in Italy, the University of Western Australia, China's Peking University, the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, Argentina's Universidad Nacional de La Matanza and Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia.

From tomorrow, any university can register at this web address and access resources such as best practices and examples of successful projects.

There will also be information on how a university can earn a "Healthy Campus Label" acknowledging it is a healthy place to study.

Fernando Parente, director of the project, said that "more than 30 recognised international experts in the field of health" have helped to create the standards document used to certify universities.

From the second year of the scheme onwards, there will be five levels of Healthy Campus Label available - certified, bronze, silver, gold and platinum.

FISU says Healthy Campus can be divided into six parts - sport and physical activity, mental and social health, nutrition, disease prevention, risk behaviour and lastly sustainability, the environment and social responsibility.

A seventh area, a university's management of the project, will be assessed when awarding labels.

FISU secretary general Eric Saintrond says the project is a "long-term investment" that can impact a very large number of students.

"Through this project, we have found a way to extend our activities to all students; not just elite student-athletes," Saintrond said. 

"We believe that FISU has a very important social responsibility and we want to reach millions of students.

"There are more than 40,000 universities in the world. 

"Even if we reach only one per cent of them at the beginning, we will still be reaching 400 to 500 universities, across five continents.

"To start, we can engage with millions of students around the world with just one per cent of universities."