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Spotlight on Healthy Choices: Latest insights from the #BeeWell data
In our Spotlight On Healthy Choices, we’re sharing fresh #BeeWell insights, from how health behaviours can shape wellbeing, to why girls move less than boys and how we can help, alongside the impact of digital tech on mental health, and whether different aspects of the schools and neighbourhoods affect substance use.
Healthy habits support healthy minds
It makes sense that getting enough sleep, doing enough exercise, and eating well is important for our physical health, but how does it affect our mental wellbeing?
The #BeeWell team looked at exactly this using data from more than 18,000 Year 8 pupils in Greater Manchester. When thinking about health habits, we found that young people fell into three main groups – one with the healthiest habits (most likely to get enough sleep, eat more fruit and vegetables, and be physically active), one with moderately healthy habits, and one with relatively unhealthy habits.
Young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds or who used social media more were among the most likely to be physically unhealthy. We followed young people for a year to understand how their health habits influence their wellbeing. A year later, those with healthier habits reported better mental wellbeing, suggesting that what teens do now can affect how they feel in the future.
This study also found some gender differences – girls were more likely to belong to the group with the healthiest habits. While we know from our data that girls are often less physically active than boys (meaning they’re less likely to meet the 60 minutes of daily physical activity recommended by the UK’s Chief Medical Officers), these findings show that there is more to health that being physically active. It is the combination of multiple behaviours and habits young people engage in throughout the day. We should encourage young people to be healthy in various areas of their lives, from eating five portions of fruit and vegetables per day, to getting enough sleep to feel alert and concentrate throughout the day.
Nevertheless, girls’ low physical activity levels remain important to address, as we know that being physically active is associated with a whole host of benefits from strengthening muscles and bones, to building confidence and social skills, and improving learning. The #BeeWell research team is currently looking at this topic, examining daily activity levels for girls and how they have changed since 2021.
We’ll be looking at a whole range of factors, from year group, SEND status, physical health status, free school meal eligibility and ethnicity, to understand which groups of girls are less likely to do physical activity. We’re also investigating school provision, such as access to facilities, the PE curriculum, and extra-curricular activities. Watch this space for the full evidence briefing coming in September.
Are we right to be concerned about digital tech?
Digging deeper into the role of digital technology and how it affects young people’s mental health, we tracked 25,000 young people in Greater Manchester over three years from Year 8 to Year 10 to better understand how their social media use and gaming habits influenced emotional difficulties (like anxiety and depression).
We found some links between how young people used digital tech and their mental health. For example, when boys experienced higher-than-usual mental health difficulties in the second year of our study, they tended to game less frequently in the third year. Crucially though, we found no evidence – for boys or girls – that when individuals spent more time than usual on social media or gaming, their mental health was worse at a later time.
While these findings do not support the widely held view that teenagers’ technology use is a major cause of their mental health difficulties and may provide some reassurance to parents and teachers, it’s important to note that we looked at time spent on these activities and not the specifics of which games and platforms the young people were using, nor how they were using them.
Where young people live and go to school – does it shape substance use habits?
In other upcoming research, our team is using data from 30,000 young people, to investigate how both the school they go to, and the neighbourhood they live in, predict substance use (including vaping, smoking, drinking and illegal drug use).
We’re looking at these two contexts separately and also together. This was important as young people spend significant amounts of time both in their local area and at school (which may or may not be in their local area). These contexts can be really important in helping us understand behaviours, but if we think about them in isolation, we could be missing some of the picture.
We’re also looking at how different characteristics might be associated with substance use. These include sociodemographic characteristics such as gender identity and sexual orientation, age and ethnicity as well as other factors that might increase or decrease the likelihood of substance use. For example, friendship support and dynamics, school belonging and happiness with attainment.
Our team is currently finalising this paper, and we can’t wait to share the full findings!
If you’d like more information about our research into healthy choices and other areas of young people’s wellbeing, have a look at our research pages with all our latest publications.
