Objective To know the needs for knowledge in the health education of college students

and to provide basis for arranging pertinent health education accordingly.Method To adopt self-designed questionnaire and conduct the survey by selecting 500college students from certain college and by means of random sampling from whole groups of students.Results The top five items in the ranking of needs for knowledge in health education of the surveyed college students are:harm in smoking

proper food and health

healthy lifestyle

emergency self-aid and mutual aid

and mental health with respective percentage of 52.00%

47.00%

46.60%

42.20%and 27.80%.Male students had higher needs than female students for knowledge in harm in smoking

proper food and health

mental health and sex and reproductive health

while the female students had higher needs for knowledge in emergency self-aid and mutual aid

and the differences were statistically significant（P<0.05）.Students of liberal science divisions had higher needs for knowledge in emergency self-aid and mutual aid and prevention of infectious diseases than students of natural science divisions

while the latter had higher needs than the former for knowledge in harm in smoking

proper food and health

and sex and reproductive health with the differences all having statistical significance（P<0.01）.Students of different grades differed in their needs for knowledge in environment and health

oral hygiene

healthy lifestyle

medicine safety

sex and reproductive health

and the differences were also statistically significant（P<0.01）.ConclusionThe health-related knowledge most desired by the college students are in harm in smoking

proper food and health

healthy lifestyle

emergency self-aid and mutual aid

and mental health

and differences in their needs for such knowledge exist by different genders

academic majors and grades.Therefore

the health education ought to be arranged in a well-planned manner with concerns for priorities according to different circumstances to lift college students′health literacy.