Sports nutrition diet, physical activity, and sleep quality collectively have a significant positive influence on adolescent health behavior, with dietary behaviors exhibiting the strongest direct effect and sleep quality and physical activity serving as significant mediating pathways.
Sports nutrition diet, physical activity, and sleep quality collectively have a significant positive influence on adolescent health behavior.
Sports nutrition diet has a substantial direct impact on adolescent health behavior.
The relationship between sports nutrition diet and health behavior is significantly mediated through indirect pathways involving sleep quality, physical activity, and a chained pathway involving both.
The study sample consisted of 1270 valid responses from primary and secondary school students across two major Chinese urban regions.
The COM-B model framework was applied to examine how nutritional practices influence health outcomes both directly and indirectly through behavioral and physiological pathways.
This research suggests that among Chinese middle and high school students, eating a sports-oriented nutritious diet, being physically active, and getting good sleep all work together to support healthy behaviors overall. The study surveyed 1,270 students from two major regions of China and found that diet had the strongest direct influence on health behavior, while physical activity and sleep quality also played important roles — both on their own and as 'bridges' that help translate good nutrition into healthier behavior more broadly. The findings suggest that the connections between these three pillars — diet, exercise, and sleep — are not just independent; they reinforce each other. For example, better nutrition may lead to better sleep, which in turn supports more physical activity, and together these steps contribute to healthier overall behavior in young people. This chain reaction was statistically confirmed and helps explain why focusing on just one aspect of health may be less effective than addressing all three together. This research suggests that schools and policymakers looking to improve adolescent health should consider designing programs that simultaneously address nutrition, physical activity, and sleep rather than treating them in isolation. The study provides a scientific framework (the COM-B model) that could help structure such multi-component interventions in school settings, particularly in rapidly urbanizing regions where youth health challenges are growing.
Yufei C, Ningning W. (2026). The effects of sports nutrition diet, physical activity and sleep quality on health behavior in primary and secondary school students: A cross-sectional study based on the COM-B model.. Acta psychologica. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106269