Young adults face unique pressures that can have long-term health impacts, so University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka researchers have discovered three key things they can do to go from “getting by” to thriving.
Published in the journal PLOS One, the study investigates the ‘big three’ health and lifestyle behaviours in young adults – sleep, healthy eating and exercise.
It found sleep is the biggest contributor to young adults’ well-being, followed by a healthy diet and being physically active.
The researchers emphasized that well-being during young adulthood lays the foundation for long-term mental and physical health.
“This age group faces unique pressures – such as leaving home financial stress, educational pressures and social stressors – that can lower happiness,” the lead researcher said.
About the study
Using a survey of more than 1,000 people and data from two daily diary studies of another 1,000 people, researchers found young people who get good-quality sleep, eat more fruit and vegetables and stay physically active are better off.
The participants were aged 17-25 and living in New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Of these healthy habits, sleep quality stood out as the strongest and most consistent predictor of next-day well-being but eating fruit and vegetables and being active also helped boost well-being.
Interplay between sleep quality and diet
Across the two daily diary studies, young adults who ate more fruit and vegetables after a poor night’s sleep experienced less of a drop in well-being the next day.
While poor sleep still predicted reduced well-being, healthy eating appeared to buffer some of its negative effects.
This finding suggests that improving basic lifestyle behaviours, especially sleep, can meaningfully enhance well-being. Importantly, these changes are practical and can be made without costly interventions.
Sleeping a little better, eating a little healthier, or exercising even for 10 minutes longer than you normally do was associated with improvements to how you feel that day.
Source: PLOS One, August 27, 2025
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