Metacognitive abilities are linked to physical activity, diet, and sleep quality

A new study published in PLOS One has found that how young adults manage their mental resources—known as metacognition—is connected to their physical activity, diet, and sleep. The findings suggest that these everyday behaviors may not only influence how we think but also how we think about our thinking.

Metacognition refers to the ability to reflect on and control one’s own thought processes. This includes knowing what strategies to use when solving problems, keeping track of progress while completing tasks, and adjusting plans if something isn’t working.

While much research has already shown that physical activity, sleep, and diet can influence cognitive functions like memory or attention, fewer studies have examined whether these habits also affect metacognitive skills. The researchers behind this study wanted to find out whether the same lifestyle factors that shape basic thinking skills might also relate to the higher-level processes people use to guide and regulate their thinking.

“We have long recognized that lifestyle behaviors, particularly physical activity, diet, and sleep habits, are associated with our cognitive functioning,” said study author G. Kyle Gooderham, a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia.

“However, it remains unclear whether lifestyle behaviors are linked to our abilities to monitor and control our cognitive resources and functioning. This fundamental cognitive ability, metacognition, supports cognitive functioning by enabling us to flexibly respond to cognitive demands. Therefore, an association between lifestyle behaviors and metacognition would suggest that lifestyle behaviors are linked to the regulation of cognitive functioning.”

This is especially relevant for young adults, who are generally at their peak in terms of cognitive performance. Despite this, even high-performing individuals may experience variation in how effectively they plan, monitor, and adjust their thinking, and these differences could be related to how they live. Because young adulthood is a period when long-term health habits are often established, understanding how lifestyle connects to metacognition could have lasting implications for both mental and physical well-being.

To investigate this, the researchers conducted two studies using large samples of undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia. In the first study, 1,702 students were recruited, and in the second, 564 students took part. All participants completed a set of online surveys assessing their physical activity levels, dietary habits, sleep quality, perceived stress, and various aspects of metacognitive function.

These surveys had been validated in previous research and included measures like the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (which assesses how well someone understands and regulates their own learning), the Inventory of Metacognitive Self-Regulation (which focuses on problem-solving abilities), and the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire (which captures patterns of worry and confidence about one’s own thoughts).

In both studies, physical activity stood out as a strong predictor of metacognitive functioning. Young adults who reported higher levels of physical activity were more likely to say they understood how their thinking worked, and that they used effective strategies to manage their mental performance. These relationships were especially clear for abilities like planning how to approach a task or evaluating how well a strategy was working—skills often used before or after completing a mentally challenging activity.

Interestingly, physical activity was not linked to metacognitive skills that happen during a task, such as adjusting one’s approach in the moment or staying mentally focused. Nor was it related to metacognitive worry—negative thoughts or anxiety about one’s own thinking. These findings suggest that physical activity may be most closely associated with metacognitive processes that happen before or after a task rather than in real time.

When it came to diet, the results pointed in a different direction. Healthy dietary patterns were related to better online regulation of cognition—the ability to monitor and adjust thinking as tasks unfold. Participants who reported more nutritious eating habits were more likely to indicate they could manage their mental focus and keep track of their progress while working through a problem.

However, diet was not strongly connected to overall knowledge about thinking or to pre- and post-task regulation. This implies that healthy eating might support the flexible mental engagement needed during ongoing cognitive efforts.

Sleep, meanwhile, was most closely linked with metacognitive worry. Participants who reported poor sleep quality also tended to express more anxiety about their thinking, including worries about losing control of thoughts or feeling mentally vulnerable.

However, sleep did not appear to relate to how well participants understood or regulated their thinking in practical terms. This pattern suggests that inadequate sleep may influence the emotional side of metacognition—such as self-doubt or mental discomfort—without necessarily impairing planning or problem-solving skills.

“Physical activity, diet, and sleep are modifiable lifestyle behaviors that impact how we monitor and control our cognitive functions,” Gooderham told PsyPost. “Engaging in healthful lifestyle behaviors may not only directly impact cognitive performance, but also how we use our limited cognitive resources.”

To better understand these patterns, the researchers grouped the different aspects of metacognition into four broader categories: knowledge of cognition, offline regulation of cognition (before or after a task), online regulation (during a task), and metacognitive worry. This allowed them to see more clearly how lifestyle habits matched up with specific types of thinking skills. The results were consistent across both studies: physical activity was related to knowledge and offline regulation, diet to online regulation, and sleep to metacognitive worry.

“Physical activity, diet, and sleep each impacted different aspects of metacognition,” Gooderham said. “This aligns with findings investigating the effect of lifestyle behaviors on cognitive performance, and reinforces the complex relationship between cognition and our lifestyles. Critically, these data offer convergent evidence for the different effects of lifestyle behaviors on cognitive processes and suggest that different interventions can be adopted to target specific cognitive functions.”

But as with all research, there are some limitations to consider.

“First, it would be inappropriate to infer a causal relationship from the data,” Gooderham explained.” The direction of the relationships cannot be determined from the research design, and it is entirely conceivable that cognitive variables are determinants of participation in lifestyle behaviors.

“Second, the study relied on self-report measures of lifestyle behaviors and metacognition. These self-reported variables, including measures of both cognition and lifestyle behaviors, are liable to deviations from objective indices.”

The study, “Metacognitive function in young adults is impacted by physical activity, diet, and sleep patterns,” was authored by G. Kyle Gooderham and Todd C. Handy.