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.
Senior author Professor Tamlin Conner, of the Department of Psychology, says 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,” she says.
“Understanding what lifestyle factors support well-being can help young adults not just ‘get by’ but thrive during this critical life stage.”
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,” Professor Conner says.
An interesting discovery was the 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,” she says.
“This 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.”
Dr Jack Cooper, who led the project as part of his PhD in the Department of Psychology and was co-supervised by Professor Robin Turner, says taking steps to feeling better does not have to be complicated.
“Young adults don’t have to reach some objective benchmark of healthiness to see well-being improvements,” he says.
“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.”
PLOS One
Case study
People
From surviving to thriving: How sleep, physical activity, and diet shape well-being in young adults
27-Aug-2025