Research highlights an alarming situation with increasing health issues among today’s young generation. This concern is the basis for the Swedish study Children’s Health Path Through the Education System in Malmö City. Malmö is a major city where most of the world’s languages are spoken, and 35% of the population is foreign-born. In collaboration between Malmö’s three school administrations and Malmö University, the child’s health journey from preschool through primary school to upper secondary school was explored. The study aimed to investigate the school’s initiatives linked to children’s health. The research question examined the experiences of school personnel regarding health-promoting work. Fifteen focus group discussions were conducted with 60 participants, focusing on children’s and young people’s mental, physical, social, and existential health in school. Participants represented various professional roles, including preschool teachers, teachers, educational developers, special educational needs teachers, student health teams, medical student health professionals, principals, special education teams, and centrally employed specialists.

The analysis was based on the child’s best interests and aspects of equality and sustainability. The results highlight that trustful relationships between children/students and teachers are fundamental to children’s health, well-being, school attendance, and academic performance. On the organizational level, two themes emerged: a lack of professional language for health-promoting work and a gap in collaboration between different sectors and professions. At the specific level, which focuses on the child’s and student’s learning environment, two additional themes were identified: interpersonal relationships and the impact of the working environment on students’ existential health.

The study’s report provides an overview of the strengths and challenges within Malmö’s educational administrations in organizing and managing health-promoting work. From an equality perspective, the report also presents aspects of improvement for how administrations and schools can drive sustainable health-promoting school development – a “next practice” approach that is more sustainable than previous efforts. Overall, the study concludes that issues related to mental, physical, social and existential health are of utmost importance and must be prioritized continuously from children’s preschool and throughout school years. The study also presents a new umbrella concept – pedagogical health – for interdisciplinary work and discussion about student health. In conclusion, the study of a large city’s complex health-promoting efforts highlights interpersonal relationships between children and adults, as well as among adults themselves, as the fundamental basis for improving student health and well-being.