New information on students’ lifestyles: An increasing number of higher education students get enough exercise but spend too much time online
Positive changes have taken place in the lifestyles of higher education students over the past three years. The amount of physical activity has increased, and daily smoking and use of snus have decreased. On the other hand, negative changes can also be seen: obesity has increased and an increasing number of students find their internet use problematic.
These results were obtained in the Finnish Student Health and Wellbeing Survey (KOTT) conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in spring 2024. A total of 3,600 students aged 18–34 from higher education institutions across Finland participated in the survey. We are now publishing results concerning students’ lifestyles.
More than one half get enough exercise, but there is still a lot of sedentary time
More than one half of higher education students meet the recommendations for physical activity, in other words, engage in sufficient endurance exercise and exercise that maintains muscle strength. Physical activity meeting the recommendations increased from 46% to 55% between 2021 and 2024.
One half of students sit in front of a screen more than three hours a day in their free time: 57% of men and 45% of women. Sedentary time in front of a screen in their free time is more common among students than among young adults in the whole population.
Higher education students spend a lot of time sedentary in their everyday life in general. About one third of students are sedentary for at least twelve hours a day.
Fourteen per cent of higher education students are obese, which means that their body mass index is at least 30 kg/m2. Obesity among students has increased, just like it has among working-age people in the whole population.
“Physical activity supports study ability and students’ coping in everyday life. It is also important from the point of view of weight management that more and more students meet the recommendations for physical activity. The increase in physical activity may for its part indicate that the availability of sports and exercise services has improved after the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Researcher Valtteri Pohjola.
“Nevertheless, students continue to sit a lot. It is important to reduce the amount of sitting and create breaks from sedentary time by taking measures that develop the study environment and the university culture,” Pohjola continues.
More and more students use the internet too much
As many as one in two higher education students find their internet use excessive. The proportion of those using the internet excessively increased from 45% to 51% between 2021 and 2024. There was a particularly strong increase in excessive internet use among women.
More and more higher education students also find their use of social media problematic. Their proportion increased clearly from 2021 (26%) to 2024 (39%).
“Excessive use of the internet and social media reduces coping with studies and increases the risk of many health hazards. It is important to increase awareness of the problems caused by internet use among both professionals and young adults and to develop suitable ways of finding a balance in everyday life,” says Research Manager Sari Castrén.
The use of nicotine pouches is more common than smoking
A positive thing is that daily smoking and use of snus have decreased. They are fairly uncommon among higher education students: four per cent of students smoke and three per cent use snus daily.
After their sale was allowed, nicotine pouches have rapidly become the tobacco and nicotine product most commonly used by male students. Women have also begun to use them, although the use of snus has been uncommon among them.
Nine per cent of students use nicotine pouches on a daily basis. It is most common among men studying at universities of applied sciences, of whom 18 per cent use nicotine pouches.
“Daily use of nicotine pouches is common among those who have given up smoking or the use of snus, but students who have never smoked or used snus also use nicotine pouches,” says Senior Specialist Hanna Ollila. “The attractiveness of nicotine pouches and the amount of nicotine they contain must be reduced. No nicotine is always the best option from the health point of view.”
In general, the use of alcohol and drugs has decreased or remained unchanged in the past few years. However, high-risk use of alcohol has increased by five percentage points among female students – 28% of women now consume alcohol at the risk level.
The promotion of students’ health and wellbeing is the responsibility of the entire society. The higher education community, healthcare professionals, decision-makers and health promotion specialists are the key actors.
The health and wellbeing of higher education students is discussed today, Monday 25 November, in the national network day that we organise together with the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS).
“The FSHS takes the observations made in the Finnish Student Health and Wellbeing Survey seriously. We focus our preventive work on promoting students’ healthy lifestyle and physically active life and offer means of reducing and controlling addictions. We will be increasingly encouraging higher education institutions to communicate to their students about factors that affect study ability. We will organise open events on the most important health promotion themes based on the KOTT results,” says Medical Director Teija Kulmala from the FSHS.
You can follow the network day on 25 November online:
Programme of the network day (in Finnish)
Source:
Physical activity, sleep and obesity, KOTT 2024 online report (in Finnish)
Gambling, online gaming and internet use, KOTT 2024 online report (in Finnish)
Use of tobacco and nicotine products, KOTT 2024 online report (in Finnish)
Use of alcohol and drugs, KOTT 2024 online report (in Finnish)
Results of the KOTT survey tabulated (in Finnish)
Ollila H, Ruokolainen O, Ikonen J (2024) Nikotiinipussien käyttö korkeakouluopiskelijoilla (in Finnish) [Use of nicotine pouches among higher education students]. Research in brief 49/2024 Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki.
Statistical report on tobacco and nicotine products 2023
Further information:
Valtteri Pohjola (physical activity and sedentary behaviour)
Researcher
THL
tel. +358 29 524 7665
[email protected]
Sari Castrén (internet and social media use)
Research Manager
THL
tel. +358 29 524 8525
[email protected]
Hanna Ollila (tobacco and nicotine products)
Senior Specialist
THL
tel. +358 29 524 8617
[email protected]
Teija Kulmala
Medical Director
Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS)
tel. +358 41 731 9420
[email protected]
