Supporting healthy lifestyles among young adults in the workplace

Early adulthood is an important period to establish healthy behaviour patterns for later life. This is an age when individuals tend to have poor diet and low levels of physical activity, and a time of weight gain and increasing mental illness. In addition, there have been recent concerns about high sickness absence and high economic inactivity among young adults.

The workplace has potential to be an environment which supports a healthy lifestyle, enabling young adults to develop healthy behaviours, reducing sickness absence and preventing later life chronic disease. However, there has previously been little focus on how workplaces can support healthy lifestyles for young adults. 

This research aimed to better understand the needs of young adults (age 16–24 years), learn from the perspectives of young adults, employers and wider stakeholders, and identify practical intervention opportunities for future research.

Across the research we aimed to address three overarching research questions:

1: Where is the greatest need among young adult employees, and employers, for interventions to address lifestyle behaviours?

2: What could employers and policy makers do to support improved lifestyle behaviours and reduce risks of overweight and obesity among young adults transitioning into the workplace?

3: What components of a workplace intervention are likely to be most feasible and cost-effective in supporting healthy lifestyle behaviours and reducing weight-related inequalities among young adults transitioning into the workforce?

This work was conducted as a collaboration between the University of Cambridge, University of Leeds, University of Sheffield and the Institute for Employment Studies. The authors are indebted to the Young Person’s Advisory Group for supporting the design and conduct of the research and interpretation of findings.