It is important to take care of one's mental health by getting enough amount of sleep, having physical activity, and a proper diet. These three factors are usually linked to good mental health, but which among them contributes to better and healthier mental health?
According to ScienceAlert, sleep quality may be the most important factor more than the hours slept, physical activity, and diet. The new study of young adults conducted by researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand suggests that sleep, diet, and physical activity are inseparable factors that have the biggest impact on one's mental health.
Three Factors for Good Mental Health
Sleep, physical activity, and diet predict good mental health. Disrupted sleep could lead to depression and other mood disorders. But a balanced diet has shown to help prevent depression. Physical activity, such as exercise, could also boost mental and physical health.
The new study considered these three factors to understand which one has the biggest impact on the mental health of young adults.
Lead author Shay-Ruby Wickham, from Otago Medical School, said that these three factors could be considered as the three pillars of health that contribute to optimal well-being among young adults. They decided to conduct their study in examining all three factors together since most studies available only look at these three as separate factors.
Learning about how sleep, diet, and physical activity influence one another is an important part of understanding how they contribute to the overall well-being of a person, according to SleepFoundation.org.
The new study included a survey of over 1,100 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 to compare the three factors and their impact on mental health. The survey asks for the mood and well-being of the person, as well as their diet, physical activity, and sleep habits. The participants reported how refreshed they felt every morning with good quality sleep.
Researchers found that eating servings of raw fruit and vegetables every day is correlated with well-being. But physical activity ranks as the second indicator of well-being after the quality of sleep.
Quality of Sleep Predicts Better Mental Health
It is typically challenging for young adults to get quality sleep because of their daily routines, sleep patterns, work demands, lifestyle, and living situations, ScienceAlert reported.
The study showed that sleeping ten hours per night decreases the risk of having depression. But the researchers noted that it should not go lesser than eight hours and not beyond 12 hours.
But more than sleep quantity, the researchers recommend young adults should prioritize getting a good quality of sleep, and stress the importance of having physical activity and a good diet because these are still significant factors for better mental health.
"Our findings suggest that future lifestyle interventions targeting sleep quality may be most beneficial at improving mental health and wellbeing. However, physical activity and diet should not be disregarded," the researchers wrote.
They published their study in Frontiers in Psychology.
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