🎓 The Health of Today’s Graduates: What the Stats Say About the Future

As caps fly and tassels turn, this year’s graduating class is ready to take on the world. From the commencement addresses to the inscriptions on diplomas, messages about potential and possibility and success are everywhere. 

But behind all the grad memes lies a deeper story about the health and wellness of this generation. Yes, it’s a time for celebration. And it’s also a time to take a look at the very real health data about today’s graduating class. Here are important health statistics about today’s young adults and how we as a health community can play a role in creating a better tomorrow.

📉 Grad Physical Health: Fitness and Food

It seems like wellness is everywhere you look. From social media platforms built on giving advice and shilling supplements to exciting medical breakthroughs and advances, health care and personal well-being topics are consistently at the top of our algorithms. But that growing awareness doesn’t mean that it’s being put into practice. As Boston Children’s Hospital pediatric endocrinologist Dr. David Ludwig puts it, “We’re raising the most sedentary, calorie-rich generation in human history.” ¹

Graduates entering young adult years are struggling with some key health habits: 

• Over 75% of today’s high school grads are not getting in recommended physical activity. Only 24% of high school students meet the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity daily. ²
• Fruits and veggies who? Only 7% of teens heading into adulthood are eating fruits and vegetables at the recommended daily serving amounts. ³
• Triple. Today’s teens are dealing with obesity rates that have tripled since the 1970s.⁴

The toughest part about these alarming statistics is that the effects of these types of lifestyles aren’t fully realized until later in adulthood, with elevated rates of chronic conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, not to mention the side effects like healthcare costs, missed work, and a general sense of malaise in what should be someone’s most productive years.  

🧠 Young Adult Mental Health: A Progressing Crisis 

Today’s grads, at both the high school and university levels, are a generation with a unique experience: these are the students who experienced during their pre-teen/teen years the impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns and the disruption of their typical school days. We’ll likely be unpacking the impact of the pandemic on this generation of students for years to come, but what we do know is that one of the most urgent concerns facing graduates is mental health. Consider these sobering stats:

• Anxiety, depression, and loneliness remain much higher for today’s students, even as pandemic restrictions have lifted. ⁵
• 42% of all high school students reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless. ⁶
• Nearly 1 in 3 high school girls reported seriously considering suicide in 2023. ⁷

“We are in the middle of a youth mental health crisis,” says former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, “and it is the defining public health challenge of our time.” ⁸

Today’s graduates will need the power of community, environments that build connection, impart meaning, and develop resilience. And they likely will need more intentional guidance in how to build community, as they are a generation deeply impacted by the isolation of lockdowns and school interruptions.

🕊️ Spiritual and Emotional Anchors

Here’s great news for graduates: more young adults are seeking meaning, spiritual guidance, and mental clarity through faith and service to others. 

• Students involved in faith-based communities report higher levels of resilience and lower levels of depression. ⁹ In a generation that is more informed about mental health than others that have come before it, this turning to spiritual groups for healthier mental well-being is an exciting improvement.
• It may not always look like the church-based approach you’d prefer. But 63% of Gen Z teens say they are “spiritual,” even if they are not religious. ¹⁰ This can mean they are likely more open to faith conversations and considerations than previous generations, which can open the door to a relationship with God.
• Students who serve have stronger emotional regulation and lower substance abuse rates. ¹¹ Whether it’s driving for Meals on Wheels, becoming a big sib in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, or serving in the local church, there are powerful health reasons for young adults to stay involved in helping others. 

Members of Altrua HealthShare are part of a health care sharing ministry, which means physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being are all valued. Supporting whole-person health isn’t just idealistic. It’s essential.

🛤️ What This Means for Tomorrow

First things first: Your graduate is going to need a solid strategy for staying healthy, body, mind, and spirit. The above statistics show that intentionality about health are going to be key for your graduate’s future, and they’ll have to push back against the trends of their generation to achieve a better sense of wellness. If you’re currently an Altrua HealthShare Member and your graduate is on your family membership, remind them about getting in those important wellness visits, along with membership features like counseling services and Altrua Ministries resources. Be sure to check with a Member Services Representative for which features you have at your level of membership. If your graduate is about to turn 23, it’s time for them to get their own membership with Altrua HealthShare. They’ll enjoy the flexibility and cost-savings that are part of the Altrua HealthShare difference. (And check this out; from now until May 31, 2025, your graduate starting their own membership with Altrua HealthShare can get their first month free!)  If you’re not yet a Member of Altrua HealthShare and you want to learn more about what a health share is and how it works, check out more information here.

This year’s graduating class of 2025 is entering adulthood with both a lot of promise and a lot of pressure. This is the generation of digital natives. They’re socially aware, and they’re eager to make a difference in the world. And they’re also navigating anxiety, chronic stress, and increasing lifestyle-related health risks.

Help today’s graduates make the most of tomorrow by encouraging them in their health. Health-minded communities like Altrua HealthShare can come alongside and model preventative wellness, access to counseling, healthy living resources, and a vibrant spiritual walk. 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121

• ¹ David Ludwig, quoted in “The Obesity Epidemic,” Harvard Health Publishing, March 2022, https://www.health.harvard.edu.
  ² Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Youth Risk Behavior Survey,” 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/index.htm.
  ³ U.S. Department of Agriculture, “Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” 2020–2025, https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/.
  ⁴ National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, “Obesity and Youth,” 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html.
  ⁵ https://sph.umich.edu/news/2023posts/college-students-anxiety-depression-higher-than-ever-but-so-are-efforts-to-receive-care.html
  ⁶ https://www.cdc.gov/yrbs/results/2021-yrbs-results.html#:~:text=What%20data%20find,as%20compared%20to%20their%20peers.
  ⁷ CDC, “Youth Risk Behavior Survey: 2023 Data Summary,” https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth.
  ⁸ U.S. Surgeon General, “Advisory on Youth Mental Health,” 2022, https://www.hhs.gov.
  ⁹ Pew Research Center, “Faith Among Gen Z,” 2023, https://www.pewresearch.org.
  ¹⁰ Barna Group, “Gen Z and Faith,” 2022, https://www.barna.com.
  ¹¹ Search Institute, “Youth Service and Mental Well-being,” 2021, https://www.search-institute.org.