Physical Wellness

Healthy Habits Make a Happy Teenager

By Jennifer Lee | Update Date: Mar 06, 2012 01:47 PM EST

Teenagers who stick to the healthy lifestyle of their younger years are significantly happier than their peers who turn to drink, cigarettes, and junk food.

A research, which used information from Understanding Society, a long-term study of 40,000 UK households funded by the Economic and Social Research Counsil examined the responses of 5,000 teenagers between the ages of 10-15 to the questions about their health-related behaviors and levels of happiness.

The research showed that teenagers who never drank any alcohol were between four and six times happier than those who consumed any alcohol. And youth who never smoked were about five times more happier than teenagers who did. Higher consumption of fruit and vegetables and lower consumption of crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks were also associated with high happiness. And the more hours of sport young people participated in per week the happier they were.

The study also showed that between the ages of 13 and 15, young people's food consumption becomes less healthy and their participation in exercise reduces.

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