How does the distance learning academic define his health?

Higher education is of crucial importance in shaping society and has a strong social impact. Face-to-face universities, as a community, are a suitable setting for implementing strategies to promote health and well-being. The expansion of the Distance Education (DL) modality should consider the implementation of institutional policies for the health care of Ead students. This is a cross-sectional, quantitative and exploratory study, carried out with academics at a private university based in the state of Parana, and centers in 26 Brazilian states and the Federal District. By spontaneous adherence, 8,531 students participated in the study by answering a structured questionnaire in the Google Forms. It was identified that although academics tended to have a positive self-perception of health, self-reported chronic diseases have an impact on these students' health perception. Those residing in the Southeast and South regions had better self -perception of health, although they self-reported a higher incidence of chronic diseases when compared to other Brazilian regions. We concluded that better access to health services, higher income and older age positively influenced self-perception of health. The results of this study, in view of the significant expansion of Distance Education, can contribute to the planning of institutional strategies to promote the health of distance education university students.