Regular exercise crucial for student mental health, new Norwegian study suggests

A recent Norwegian study indicates that frequent, sustained exercise significantly reduces the risk of common mental disorders among university students, highlighting the importance of incorporating regular movement into student routines.

Infrequent exercise appears to be linked with a greater risk of common mental disorders among higher education students in Norway, according to research published in PLOS ONE. The study suggests that regular physical activity may matter more for student mental health than occasional intense workouts, especially during a life stage already marked by stress and change.

Michael Grasdalsmoen of Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and colleagues followed 10,460 full-time students aged 18 to 35 for a year. Students reported how often, how hard and how long they exercised, and later completed a diagnostic tool for anxiety and depression. The findings pointed to a clearer connection between exercise frequency and later mental health than to intensity or duration.

The results also suggested that the likelihood of a common mental disorder fell as weekly exercise rose, up to about 10 hours a week. The pattern broadly supported World Health Organization advice to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week. The researchers said the evidence does not prove cause and effect, but argued that making movement a normal part of student life could help support mental well-being.

The wider research base points in the same direction. A separate PLOS ONE trial protocol is testing one-on-one and group physical activity programmes for students with poor mental health, while other studies by Grasdalsmoen and colleagues have examined exercise in relation to chronic pain and, in separate Norwegian and Chinese student samples, loneliness and depressive symptoms. Taken together, the work suggests that physical activity may offer benefits that go beyond fitness alone.