Have you heard the advice to exercise, choose a healthy diet, keep a lean weight, never smoke, and limit alcohol?

Researchers wanted to find out whether people who follow this advice live longer than those who don’t. So, they compared lifespan and other data from thousands of adults with all five of these healthy habits to those without.

People in the healthy habits group got at least 30 minutes of exercise each day. They ate the recommended amounts of fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and healthy fats. And they limited salt, sugary drinks, trans fat, and red and processed meats. They also limited alcohol. Women had no more than one drink each day and men no more than two drinks. They also maintained a normal weight and didn’t smoke.

The people in the other group didn’t exercise, have a healthy diet, or limit drinking. They smoked and were overweight.

Based on the results, the researchers estimated that a 50-year-old woman who had all five habits would live, on average, to age 93. In contrast, if she didn’t have any of these habits, she would live on average to age 79.

For a 50-year-old man, the average lifespan was about 88 years old with healthy behaviors and only 76 years without.

“This study underscores the importance of following healthy lifestyle habits for improving longevity in the U.S. population,” says Dr. Frank B. Hu of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, senior author of the study.

We know that making healthy choices can help us feel better and live longer. Maybe you’ve already tried to eat better, get more exercise or sleep, quit smoking, or reduce stress. It’s not easy. But research shows how you can boost your ability to create and sustain a healthy lifestyle.

“It’s frustrating to experience setbacks when you’re trying to make healthy changes and reach a goal,” says NIH behavior change expert Dr. Susan Czajkowski. “The good news is that decades of research show that change is possible, and there are proven strategies you can use to set yourself up for success.”

Lots of things you do impact your health and quality of life, now and in the future. You can reduce your risk for the most common, costly, and preventable health problems—such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity—by making healthy choices.

Know Your Habits

Regular things you do—from brushing your teeth to having a few drinks every night—can become habits. Repetitive behaviors that make you feel good can affect your brain in ways that create habits that may be hard to change. Habits often become automatic—they happen without much thought.

“The first step to changing your behavior is to create an awareness around what you do regularly,” explains Dr. Lisa Marsch, an expert in behavior change at Dartmouth College. “Look for patterns in your behavior and what triggers the unhealthy habits you want to change.”

Maybe you eat too much while watching TV or join a friend on smoke breaks even when you don’t want a cigarette. “You can develop ways to disrupt those patterns and create new ones,” Marsch says. For instance, eat meals with the TV off or join friends for healthy activities, like walk breaks.

Make a Plan

Make a plan that includes small, reasonable goals and specific actions you’ll take to move toward them.

“If you walk by the vending machine at work and buy junk food every afternoon, try walking a different way to eliminate that decision and bring healthy snacks from home,” Czajkowski says. “Whenever possible, make the healthy choice the easy choice.”

Consider what you think you’ll need to be successful. How can you change things around you to support your goals? You might need to stock up on healthy foods, remove temptations, or find a special spot to relax.

Get friends and loved ones involved. Research shows that people’s health behaviors tend to mirror those of their family and friends. Invite them to join you, support you, and help you stay on track.

It’s also important to plan for obstacles. Think about what might derail your best efforts to live healthier. How can you still make healthy choices during unexpected situations, in stressful times, or when tempted by old habits?

Stay on Track

Doing positive things for yourself can feel exciting and rewarding. But there will also be times when you wonder if you can stick with it.

“Identify negative thoughts and turn them into realistic, productive ones,” Marsch advises.

Keeping a record can help. You can use a paper journal, computer program, or mobile app to note things like your diet, exercise, stress levels, or sleep patterns. A study of people who lost at least 30 pounds and kept the weight off for at least a year found that they often tracked their progress closely.

“Even when you think you’re about to ‘fall off the wagon,’ hold on,” Czajkowski says. “Continue to track your behavior. Sometimes when you feel like you’re failing, you can learn the most.”

Marsch and others are working on digital technologies, like mobile apps, that could support you in a moment of weakness. Her team is also using technology to learn more about how to measure and increase the ability to monitor and control our behavior.

“The more you practice self-control, the better you become at it,” says Dr. Leonard Epstein, who studies behavior change and decision-making at the University at Buffalo. “You develop the capacity to act and react another way.”

Think About the Future

Epstein has found that some people have a harder time than others resisting their impulses. He calls this “delay discounting,” where you discount, or undervalue, the larger benefits of waiting in favor of smaller immediate rewards. This can lead to things like overeating, substance abuse, drinking or shopping too much, or risky sexual behavior.

“You can learn to postpone immediate gratification through episodic future thinking, or vividly imagining future positive experiences or rewards,” he explains. “It’s a great way to strengthen your ability to make decisions that are better for you in the long run.”

Epstein is now studying how to use this technique to help people who are at risk for type 2 diabetes prevent the disease.

Focusing on how a change might heal your body and enhance your life can help. When you stop smoking, your risk of a heart attack drops within 24 hours. Reducing stress can lead to better relationships. Even small improvements in your nutrition and physical activity can reduce your health risks and lengthen your life.

Be Patient

Sometimes when you’re trying to adopt healthier habits, other health issues can get in the way.

“When you’re really struggling with these behaviors, ask yourself if more is going on,” Czajkowski says. “For example, mental health conditions like depression and anxiety can be tied to unhealthy behaviors.”

A health professional can work with you to address any underlying issues to make change feel easier and to help you be more successful.

You’re never too out of shape, too overweight, or too old to make healthy changes. Try different strategies until you find what works best for you.

“Things may not go as planned, and that’s okay,” Czajkowski says. “Change is a process. What’s most important is to keep moving forward.”

Build Healthy Habits

• Plan. Identify unhealthy patterns and triggers. Set realistic goals. Write down steps to help you achieve them.
• Change your surroundings. Find ways to make healthier choices easy choices. Remove temptations. Work for changes in your community, like safe places to walk.
• Ask for support. Find friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, or groups for support or ask people to join you.
• Fill your time with healthy activities. Try exercise, a favorite hobby, or spending time with family and friends.
• Track your progress. Record how things are going to help you stay focused and catch slip-ups.
• Imagine the future. Think about future benefits to stay on track.
• Reward yourself. Give yourself a healthy reward when you’ve achieved a small goal or milestone, like a massage or personal time.
• Be patient. Improvement takes time, and setbacks happen. Focus on progress, not perfection.

If you know something’s bad for you, why can’t you just stop? About 70% of smokers say they would like to quit. Drug and alcohol abusers struggle to give up addictions that hurt their bodies and tear apart families and friendships. And many of us have unhealthy excess weight that we could lose if only we would eat right and exercise more. So why don’t we do it?

NIH-funded scientists have been searching for answers. They’ve studied what happens in our brains as habits form. They’ve found clues to why bad habits, once established, are so difficult to kick. And they’re developing strategies to help us make the changes we’d like to make.

“Habits play an important role in our health,” says Dr. Nora Volkow, director of NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Understanding the biology of how we develop routines that may be harmful to us, and how to break those routines and embrace new ones, could help us change our lifestyles and adopt healthier behaviors.”

Habits can arise through repetition. They are a normal part of life, and are often helpful. “We wake up every morning, shower, comb our hair or brush our teeth without being aware of it,” Volkow says. We can drive along familiar routes on mental auto-pilot without really thinking about the directions. “When behaviors become automatic, it gives us an advantage, because the brain does not have to use conscious thought to perform the activity,” Volkow says. This frees up our brains to focus on different things.

Habits can also develop when good or enjoyable events trigger the brain’s “reward” centers. This can set up potentially harmful routines, such as overeating, smoking, drug or alcohol abuse, gambling and even compulsive use of computers and social media.

“The general machinery by which we build both kinds of habits are the same, whether it’s a habit for overeating or a habit for getting to work without really thinking about the details,” says Dr. Russell Poldrack, a neurobiologist at the University of Texas at Austin. Both types of habits are based on the same types of brain mechanisms.

“But there’s one important difference,” Poldrack says. And this difference makes the pleasure-based habits so much harder to break. Enjoyable behaviors can prompt your brain to release a chemical called dopamine . “If you do something over and over, and dopamine is there when you’re doing it, that strengthens the habit even more. When you’re not doing those things, dopamine creates the craving to do it again,” Poldrack says. “This explains why some people crave drugs, even if the drug no longer makes them feel particularly good once they take it.”

In a sense, then, parts of our brains are working against us when we try to overcome bad habits. “These routines can become hardwired in our brains,” Volkow says. And the brain’s reward centers keep us craving the things we’re trying so hard to resist.

The good news is, humans are not simply creatures of habit. We have many more brain regions to help us do what’s best for our health.

“Humans are much better than any other animal at changing and orienting our behavior toward long-term goals, or long-term benefits,” says Dr. Roy Baumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University. His studies on decision-making and willpower have led him to conclude that “self-control is like a muscle. Once you’ve exerted some self-control, like a muscle it gets tired.”

After successfully resisting a temptation, Baumeister’s research shows, willpower can be temporarily drained, which can make it harder to stand firm the next time around. In recent years, though, he’s found evidence that regularly practicing different types of self-control—such as sitting up straight or keeping a food diary—can strengthen your resolve.

“We’ve found that you can improve your self-control by doing exercises over time,” Baumeister says. “Any regular act of self-control will gradually exercise your ‘muscle’ and make you stronger.”

Volkow notes that there’s no single effective way to break bad habits. “It’s not one size fits all,” she says.

One approach is to focus on becoming more aware of your unhealthy habits. Then develop strategies to counteract them. For example, habits can be linked in our minds to certain places and activities. You could develop a plan, say, to avoid walking down the hall where there’s a candy machine. Resolve to avoid going places where you’ve usually smoked. Stay away from friends and situations linked to problem drinking or drug use.

Another helpful technique is to visualize yourself in a tempting situation. “Mentally practice the good behavior over the bad,” Poldrack says. “If you’ll be at a party and want to eat vegetables instead of fattening foods, then mentally visualize yourself doing that. It’s not guaranteed to work, but it certainly can help.”

One way to kick bad habits is to actively replace unhealthy routines with new, healthy ones. Some people find they can replace a bad habit, even drug addiction, with another behavior, like exercising. “It doesn’t work for everyone,” Volkow says. “But certain groups of patients who have a history of serious addictions can engage in certain behaviors that are ritualistic and in a way compulsive—such as marathon running—and it helps them stay away from drugs. These alternative behaviors can counteract the urges to repeat a behavior to take a drug.”

Another thing that makes habits especially hard to break is that replacing a first-learned habit with a new one doesn’t erase the original behavior. Rather, both remain in your brain. But you can take steps to strengthen the new one and suppress the original one. In ongoing research, Poldrack and his colleagues are using brain imaging to study the differences between first-learned and later-learned behaviors. “We’d like to find a way to train people to improve their ability to maintain these behavioral changes,” Poldrack says.

Some NIH-funded research is exploring whether certain medications can help to disrupt hard-wired automatic behaviors in the brain and make it easier to form new memories and behaviors. Other scientific teams are searching for genes that might allow some people to easily form and others to readily suppress habits.

Bad habits may be hard to change, but it can be done. Enlist the help of friends, co-workers and family for some extra support.

Break Bad Habits

• Avoid tempting situations. If you always stop for a donut on your way to work, try a different route. Keep fatty foods, cigarettes, alcohol and other tempting items out of your home.
• Replace unhealthy behaviors with healthy ones. Try exercise, a favorite hobby or spending time with family.
• Prepare mentally. If you can’t avoid a tempting situation, prepare yourself in advance. Think about how you want to handle it and mentally practice what you plan.
• Enlist support. Ask friends, family and co-workers to support your efforts to change.
• Reward yourself for small steps. Give yourself a healthy treat when you’ve achieved a small goal or milestone.

You can take steps to improve your sleep habits. First, make sure that you give yourself enough time to sleep. With enough sleep each night, you may find that you're happier and more productive during the day.

Sleep is often the first thing that busy people squeeze out of their schedules. Making time to sleep will help you protect your health and well-being now and in the future.

To improve your sleep habits, it also may help to:

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. For children, have a set bedtime and a bedtime routine. Don't use the child's bedroom for timeouts or punishment.
• Try to keep the same sleep schedule on weeknights and weekends. Limit the difference to no more than about an hour. Staying up late and sleeping in late on weekends can disrupt your body clock's sleep-wake rhythm.
• Use the hour before bed for quiet time. Avoid intense exercise and bright artificial light, such as from a TV or computer screen. The light may signal the brain that it's time to be awake.
• Avoid heavy or large meals within a few hours of bedtime. (Having a light snack is okay.) Also, avoid alcoholic drinks before bed.
• Avoid nicotine (for example, cigarettes) and caffeine (including caffeinated soda, coffee, tea, and chocolate). Nicotine and caffeine are stimulants, and both substances can interfere with sleep. The effects of caffeine can last up to 8 hours. So, a cup of coffee in the late afternoon can make it hard for you to fall asleep at night.
• Spend time outside every day (when possible) and be physically active.
• Keep your bedroom quiet, cool, and dark (a dim night light is fine, if needed).
• Take a hot bath or use relaxation techniques before bed.

Napping during the day may boost your alertness and performance. However, if you have trouble falling asleep at night, limit naps or take them earlier in the afternoon. Adults should nap for no more than 20 minutes.

Napping in preschool-age children is normal and promotes healthy growth and development.

Strategies for shift workers

Some people have schedules that conflict with their internal body clocks. For example, shift workers may have trouble getting enough sleep. This can affect how they feel mentally and physically.

If you're a shift worker, you may find it helpful to:

• Take naps and raise the amount of time available for sleep
• Keep the lights bright at work
• Limit shift changes so your body clock can adjust
• Limit caffeine use to the first part of your shift
• Remove sound and light distractions in your bedroom during daytime sleep (for example, use light-blocking curtains)

If you're still not able to fall asleep during the day or have problems adapting to a shift-work schedule, talk with your doctor about other options to help you sleep.

Adding healthy habits to your routine can help prevent eye disease and preserve your vision.

Keeping your eyes healthy goes hand in hand with taking care of your overall health. To help prevent eye disease and preserve your vision, try adding these healthy habits to your routine:

• Make a habit of wearing sunglasses, even on cloudy days.
• Give your eyes a break—rest your eyes every 20 minutes by looking at something about 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
• Get physically active to help prevent or manage conditions that can harm vision—like diabetes or high blood pressure.
• Eat right for your sight with eye-healthy foods. Try dark leafy greens and fish like salmon or tuna.

All of these things will help.

A new study shows how the things you eat can influence your risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, or type 2 diabetes. The findings suggest ways to change your eating habits to improve your health.

Experts already know that a healthy eating plan includes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products. A healthy diet also includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts. It limits saturated and trans fats, sodium, and added sugars.

NIH-funded scientists analyzed how these 10 dietary factors affect your risk of death from heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. These are known as cardiometabolic diseases. The team relied on data from the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and national mortality data.

The scientists found that risk of death from the 3 diseases was higher for those who consumed too much sodium, processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, and unprocessed red meat. Risk of death was also higher among those who didn’t eat enough nuts and seeds, seafood omega-3 fats, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, or polyunsaturated fats. According to the analysis, nearly half (45%) of deaths in 2012 from the 3 diseases was associated with too much or too little of these 10 dietary factors.

“This study establishes the number of cardiometabolic deaths that can be linked to Americans’ eating habits, and the number is large,” explains Dr. David Goff, a heart disease and public health expert at NIH. “Second, it shows how recent reductions in those deaths relate to improvements in diet, and this relationship is strong. There is much work to be done in preventing heart disease, but we also know that better dietary habits can improve our health quickly, and we can act on that knowledge by making and building on small changes that add up over time.”

Are you thinking about being more active? Have you been trying to cut back on less healthy foods? Are you starting to eat better and move more but having a hard time sticking with these changes?

Old habits die hard. Changing your habits is a process that involves several stages. Sometimes it takes a while before changes become new habits. And, you may face roadblocks along the way.

Adopting new, healthier habits may protect you from serious health problems like obesity and diabetes. New habits, like healthy eating and regular physical activity, may also help you manage your weight and have more energy. After a while, if you stick with these changes, they may become part of your daily routine.

The information below outlines four stages you may go through when changing your health habits or behavior. You will also find tips to help you improve your eating, physical activity habits, and overall health. The four stages of changing a health behavior are

• contemplation
• preparation
• action
• maintenance

What stage of change are you in?

Contemplation: “I’m thinking about it.”

In this first stage, you are thinking about change and becoming motivated to get started.

You might be in this stage if you

• have been considering change but are not quite ready to start
• believe that your health, energy level, or overall well-being will improve if you develop new habits
• are not sure how you will overcome the roadblocks that may keep you from starting to change

Preparation: “I have made up my mind to take action.”

In this next stage, you are making plans and thinking of specific ideas that will work for you.

You might be in this stage if you

• have decided that you are going to change and are ready to take action
• have set some specific goals that you would like to meet
• are getting ready to put your plan into action

Action: “I have started to make changes.”

In this third stage, you are acting on your plan and making the changes you set out to achieve.

You might be in this stage if you

• have been making eating, physical activity, and other behavior changes in the last 6 months or so
• are adjusting to how it feels to eat healthier, be more active, and make other changes such as getting more sleep or reducing screen time
• have been trying to overcome things that sometimes block your success

Maintenance: “I have a new routine.”

In this final stage, you have become used to your changes and have kept them up for more than 6 months.

You might be in this stage if

• your changes have become a normal part of your routine
• you have found creative ways to stick with your routine
• you have had slip-ups and setbacks but have been able to get past them and make progress

Did you find your stage of change? Read on for ideas about what you can do next.

Contemplation: Are you thinking of making changes?

Making the leap from thinking about change to taking action can be hard and may take time. Asking yourself about the pros (benefits) and cons (things that get in the way) of changing your habits may be helpful. How would life be better if you made some changes?

Think about how the benefits of healthy eating or regular physical activity might relate to your overall health. For example, suppose your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is a bit high and you have a parent, brother, or sister who has type 2 diabetes. This means you also may develop type 2 diabetes. You may find that it is easier to be physically active and eat healthy knowing that it may help control blood glucose and protect you from a serious disease.

You may learn more about the benefits of changing your eating and physical activity habits from a health care professional. This knowledge may help you take action.

Look at the lists of pros and cons below. Find the items you believe are true for you. Think about factors that are important to you.

Healthy Eating

Physical Activity

Preparation: Have you made up your mind?

If you are in the preparation stage, you are about to take action. To get started, look at your list of pros and cons. How can you make a plan and act on it?

The chart below lists common roadblocks you may face and possible solutions to overcome roadblocks as you begin to change your habits. Think about these things as you make your plan.

Once you have made up your mind to change your habits, make a plan and set goals for taking action. Here are some ideas for making your plan:

• learn more about healthy eating and food portions
• learn more about being physically active
• make lists of
  • healthy foods that you like or may need to eat more of—or more often
  • foods you love that you may need to eat less often
  • things you could do to be more physically active
  • fun activities you like and could do more often, such as dancing

After making your plan, start setting goals for putting your plan into action. Start with small changes. For example, “I’m going to walk for 10 minutes, three times a week.” What is the one step you can take right away?

Action: Have you started to make changes?

You are making real changes to your lifestyle, which is fantastic! To stick with your new habits

• review your plan
• look at the goals you set and how well you are meeting them
• overcome roadblocks by planning ahead for setbacks
• reward yourself for your hard work

Track your progress

• Tracking your progress helps you spot your strengths, find areas where you can improve, and stay on course. Record not only what you did, but how you felt while doing it—your feelings can play a role in making your new habits stick.
• Recording your progress may help you stay focused and catch setbacks in meeting your goals. Remember that a setback does not mean you have failed. All of us experience setbacks. The key is to get back on track as soon as you can.
• You can track your progress with online tools such as the NIH Body Weight Planner. The NIH Body Weight Planner lets you tailor your calorie and physical activity plans to reach your personal goals within a specific time period.

Overcome roadblocks

• Remind yourself why you want to be healthier. Perhaps you want the energy to play with your nieces and nephews or to be able to carry your own grocery bags. Recall your reasons for making changes when slip-ups occur. Decide to take the first step to get back on track.
• Problem-solve to “outsmart” roadblocks. For example, plan to walk indoors, such as at a mall, on days when bad weather keeps you from walking outside.
• Ask a friend or family member for help when you need it, and always try to plan ahead. For example, if you know that you will not have time to be physically active after work, go walking with a coworker at lunch or start your day with an exercise video.

Reward yourself

• After reaching a goal or milestone, allow for a nonfood reward such as new workout gear or a new workout device. Also consider posting a message on social media to share your success with friends and family.
• Choose rewards carefully. Although you should be proud of your progress, keep in mind that a high-calorie treat or a day off from your activity routine are not the best rewards to keep you healthy.
• Pat yourself on the back. When negative thoughts creep in, remind yourself how much good you are doing for your health by moving more and eating healthier.

Maintenance: Have you created a new routine?

Make your future a healthy one. Remember that eating healthy, getting regular physical activity, and other healthy habits are lifelong behaviors, not one-time events. Always keep an eye on your efforts and seek ways to deal with the planned and unplanned changes in life.

Now that healthy eating and regular physical activity are part of your routine, keep things interesting, avoid slip-ups, and find ways to cope with what life throws at you.

Add variety and stay motivated

• Mix up your routine with new physical activities and goals, physical activity buddies, foods, recipes, and rewards.

Deal with unexpected setbacks

• Plan ahead to avoid setbacks. For example, find other ways to be active in case of bad weather, injury, or other issues that arise. Think of ways to eat healthy when traveling or dining out, like packing healthy snacks while on the road or sharing an entrée with a friend in a restaurant.
• If you do have a setback, don’t give up. Setbacks happen to everyone. Regroup and focus on meeting your goals again as soon as you can.

Challenge yourself!

• Revisit your goals and think of ways to expand them. For example, if you are comfortable walking 5 days a week, consider adding strength training twice a week. If you have limited your saturated fat intake by eating less fried foods, try cutting back on added sugars, too. Small changes can lead to healthy habits worth keeping.

Technology has changed the way we interact with each other. Social media puts other people just keystrokes away. This helps some feel like they have more social support. But for others, it can increase isolation and depression.

Researchers are investigating how social media affects mental health. They’re learning that who you meet and what you find online can mean the difference between helpful and harmful effects.

Use Your Time Wisely

Logging into social media can lead you in many directions. Actively engaging and connecting with others online can help build your social supports—both online and offline. But spending many hours passively scrolling through upsetting content can send you spiraling into negative thoughts and feelings.

Increased social media use has been linked to symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. But it’s not always clear which comes first: Is more time online causing the symptoms or a result of the symptoms?

Depression or anxiety can cause you to isolate yourself. Spending more time online may be a sign that you’re withdrawing from others.

Studies have also found that some online activities can worsen your mental health. Passively watching what others are doing online can make you feel more isolated. You might feel you’re missing out or being left out. Or it can make you think that other people have better lives than you.

What you click on then affects what you see next. If you click on things that bother you, you’re likely to be shown more of those things. Repeated scrolling through disturbing content can increase your stress and anxiety.

Teens are especially at risk from the effects of social media. Studies have found links between patterns in teens’ social media use and mental health problems.

“There has been a growth in social media use, smartphone use, and teens’ lives being online over the last 10 years,” says Dr. Katherine Keyes at Columbia University. Rates of teen depression and suicide also rose over the past 10 years. Researchers have been looking at social media’s role in that increase.

Keyes’s studies have shown that digital media use alone doesn’t account for these recent rises in depression and suicide. Other factors must also play a role. More research is needed to figure out what those are.

What seems most important is how teens are using social media and how their time online is affecting their offline social networks and activities, Keyes says.

In other words, time online takes away from time you could be spending with others, being physically active, or doing a hobby. These are things that help protect your mental health.

Connect Carefully

You can find countless different people and communities online. “Many meaningful and beneficial connections can be made online,” says Keyes. “This is especially true for teens who have more marginalized identities. Sometimes they can find community and connectivity online that they can’t get in their day-to-day lives.”

But the digital world can also expose you to harmful health behaviors. Excessive drinking, substance use, and eating disorders are sometimes misleadingly shown as what everyone’s doing or wants to do.

People also see ads about tobacco use, cannabis use, and drinking online. Dr. Patricia Cavazos-Rehg at Washington University in St. Louis studies the effects of ads on teen substance use. Her research has shown that even passively viewing tobacco content online increased the likelihood of using tobacco products. Keyes found similar trends for alcohol and cannabis.

“My concern is that social media can make substance use behaviors seem normal,” Cavazos-Rehg explains. That can affect both teens and adults.

“We’ve seen a lot of messages online about ‘wine-mom’ culture that link alcohol use with ‘mommy needs a break at the end of the day,’” Keyes says. “These messages link alcohol with positive self-care.” But using alcohol to manage stress is not a healthy coping strategy. In recent years, women have had a higher increase in alcohol use than men.

Cavazos-Rehg is researching ways to deliver information about the risks of substance use on social media. She’s also looking at how to get quality treatment information to people talking about mental health issues and substance use online.

Seek Out Help

Social media can be a tool to improve your mental health. You can search for health information, hear about others’ experiences, or find treatment options.

“We have found that social media can be very helpful for people who are feeling stigmatized about in-person recovery,” Cavazos-Rehg says. “Plus, social media can help those who are curious or ready to engage in treatment but want advice from their online peers first.”

Her team looked at what prevents people with symptoms of depression from seeking treatment. They found that many people worry about being stigmatized. Others have trouble accessing or paying for treatment.

Her team is looking for ways to reduce those barriers through social media. They’ve created tools to identify social media posts that may indicate someone needs treatment for an eating disorder. They also created a treatment app for teens with eating disorders. The team is working to reach teens in need of treatment through online ads as well.

“There is a lot of support for recovery and for mental health that individuals can get off of social media,” says Cavazos-Rehg. “But there’s often misinformation that can spread as well.” 

Remember, you don’t need to struggle with mental health problems alone. “There’s a common misconception that we can handle our mental health problems on our own, and that they’re not severe enough to warrant medical care,” Cavazos-Rehg says. “But that’s a misconception.” Don’t hesitate to reach out to a health care provider or mental health professional.

Protect Your Mental Health

• Take care of your body and mind. Stick to a schedule, eat well, stay physically active, get quality sleep, stay hydrated, and spend time outside.
• Invest in healthy relationships. Socializing is a powerful buffer to stress and a source of well-being. Spend time with others regularly, in-person and virtually.
• Be intentional about your use of social media, video games, and other technologies. Ask yourself: How much time am I spending online? Is it taking away from healthy offline activities, like exercising, seeing friends, reading, or sleeping? What content do I see, and how does it make me feel?
• Learn to manage stress and other difficult emotions. Try to recognize situations that may be emotionally challenging and come up with strategies to manage those emotions.
• Ask for help. Find someone you trust to talk to about stressful situations. If you are struggling to manage negative emotions, reach out to a health care provider, counselor, or person you trust.
• Call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 if you or someone you know is in crisis.
• Get help finding substance use and mental health treatment in your area. Call the free National Helpline 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or visit www.FindTreatment.gov.

As a parent or caregiver, you play a big part in shaping children's eating and drinking habits. When you make it a habit to consume foods and beverages that are low in added sugars, saturated fat, and salt and are high in fiber, the children you care for may learn to like these foods as well. If a child you are caring for does not like a new food right away, don't be upset. Children often need to see a new food many times before they will try it.

Be a role model. As a parent or caregiver, you also have an effect on children's physical activity. You do not need to be an expert at any activity. Just get up, move, and show children how much fun being active can be. They may grow to like it too. You can set a good example by going for a walk or riding a bike instead of watching TV, playing a video game, or surfing the internet. Find an activity that you enjoy and can do together.

Talk about being healthy. As you learn more about how to improve your health, take the time to talk to your children about how a certain food or physical activity may help them. For example, when going for a walk, bring your children with you and let them pick the route. Discuss how walking helps you feel better and is a fun way to spend time together.

Use your children's food and beverage choices as teaching moments. Speak up when you see unhealthy choices. Direct children to healthier options or say, "You can have a little of that, but not too much." Talk to them about why an overly salty or heavily sugared snack is not the best choice. Avoid making them feel guilty about their food or beverage choices. You can also praise your children when they choose a healthy item like fruit.

Use comments like these

• "Great choice!"
• "You're giving your body what it needs with that snack!"
• "I like those, too."

With physical activity, try upbeat phrases like these to keep your child excited

• "You run so fast, I can hardly keep up!"
• "You are building a strong, healthy heart!"
• "Let's walk 10 more minutes to make us stronger."

Make sure your child gets enough sleep. Getting enough sleep can improve your child’s mental, emotional, and physical health. Not getting enough sleep may lead to many health issues, including obesity. Find out how many sleep hours experts recommend for your child, depending on his or her age.

Believe in the power to change. Know that eating healthy and moving more are the building blocks to better health. Work together to form healthy habits.

Promote good health beyond your family. Other adults may play a role in your child's life, too. You can share ideas about healthy habits with them. For instance, many parents and caregivers work outside the home and need others to help with childcare. Family members, day care providers, babysitters, or friends may shape your child's health habits. Talk to them to make sure they offer healthy meals, snacks, and drinks. Check that caregivers are also providing plenty of active playtime and limiting inactive time spent with TV, video games, or other devices.

If your child is in school, you can help promote healthy habits in several other ways

• Find out more about the school's breakfast and lunch programs.
• Find out about the school’s physical education program, and look for opportunities to be active during the school day.

Consider other influences. Just as they do for you, your children's friends and the media can also affect healthy choices.

Some TV, online, and other ads try to persuade children to consume high-fat foods and sugary drinks. You can help your children be aware of these pressures. Speak with your children about choices while you watch TV, surf the internet, or go to the movies with them. Talk about how media outlets and influencers sell products or convey values through famous athletes, child celebrities, cartoon and action figures, and made-up images. Use programs and ads to spark chats about your values. These talks may help your child make healthy choices outside the home.