Most Americans say eating well and exercising helps them sleep better — and better sleep supports health goals.
A recent AASM survey shows the power of combined lifestyle habits rather than isolated resolutions.
Simple habits like a consistent bedtime and unplugging before bed can improve your sleep.
It’s that time of year again — a fresh start, fresh goals, and fresh intentions. For many, that means planning to eat better, get moving more often, and generally feel healthier.
But while most of us focus on diet and exercise as the cornerstones of health, there’s a third pillar that often gets left behind: sleep.
According to a new national survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), healthy eating and regular physical activity don’t just help your body — they also help your sleep, and that sleep can in turn make it easier to stick to your other goals.
When you think about changing habits, it makes sense to consider how they work together. Stuffing your plate with veggies and hitting a workout might already be on your list — but the latest data suggest those moves can also make it easier to get the quality sleep your brain and body crave.
“Sleep is one of three pillars of a healthy lifestyle, including eating a well-balanced diet and incorporating regular physical activity,” AASM spokesperson Dr. Kin Yuen said in a news release.
“When people make New Year’s resolutions or select their ‘nudge word’ for the year, they often prioritize diet and exercise. These changes don’t just support physical health—they also improve sleep.”
How the sleep & health survey was done
The AASM commissioned an online survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults in June 2025 to find out how lifestyle habits relate to sleep.
The results aren’t perfect — like any survey, they come with a margin of error of about ±2 percentage points — but they do give a snapshot of how people feel about their routines. Participants answered questions about their diet, physical activity, and sleep experiences.
The findings mean
A majority of respondents reported that eating a well-balanced diet helped their sleep “slightly” or “significantly.” Many also said that exercising in the morning or evening seemed to improve how well they slept.
What’s more, younger adults — especially those between 25 and 34 — were the most likely to notice these connections. In this group, a good diet and evening exercise were even more strongly linked with better sleep, suggesting that lifestyle habits early in life could influence how easily we rest.
What they mean
So what does all this actually mean for your New Year’s list?
For starters: you don’t have to tackle diet, fitness, and sleep as separate goals. Changes in one area can ripple into the others. For example, eating more nutrient-rich foods and making time to move each day could help you fall asleep faster and wake up feeling more refreshed.
To boost your chances of success, the AASM also offers a few practical sleep strategies:
Build a consistent bedtime routine: Aim for at least seven hours of sleep each night.
Stay active: Choose activities you enjoy and fit them into your schedule.
Eat well: Balance fruits, vegetables, grains, and proteins.
Unplug before bed: Turn off phones, tablets, and TVs 30–60 minutes before lights-out.
Think of sleep not as a separate resolution but as the fuel that helps power your other goals. Better sleep might just be the foundation that makes all your healthy habits stick in the year ahead.
“Sufficient sleep significantly reduces the risk of chronic illnesses, such as obesity, heart disease, and even depression and anxiety,” said Yuen. “Whether you’re improving your diet, increasing your activity level, or managing stress, prioritizing sleep gives you the energy and mental clarity needed to start the year strong.”