Higher Edu students spend too much time online :THL

An increasing number of students find their internet use problematic, according to the Finnish Student Health and Wellbeing Survey conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

Positive changes were taken place in the lifestyles of higher education students over the past three years while negative changes also as obesity and internet using time increased, said THL in a press release on Monday.

The amount of physical activity has increased, and daily smoking and use of snus have decreased.

The Survey conducted in spring 2024 where a total of 3,600 students aged 18–34 from higher education institutions across Finland participated.

According to the survey results, 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. Out of them, 57% were men and 45% 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,” said 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 added.

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,” said Research Manager Sari Castrén.

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,” said 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.