Maintaining a healthy body can often feel like a full-time job. Between meal preparation, doctors’ appointments and gym visits for exercise, it can be tough to figure out how to manage these many moving parts. However, there are a lot of reasons why Millennials have not only worked to be healthy, but are more health conscious than their parents and grandparents.

1. Food Industry Changes

One of the reasons Millennials are healthier than older generations is out of necessity. A strawberry in 2017 is not the same as the strawberry grown in 1975. The nutrients found in simple fruits and vegetables are categorized based on whether they’re organic or not. If you want a strawberry that’s nutrient-rich and sweet, purchase organic because organic produce is pesticide-free. The older generations didn’t have to worry about this factor. The meat industry produces meat at a rapid rate with hormonal injections and barely ethical practices. These practices directly affect the human body after consumption.

2. Education

More Millennials have access to more education than their parents did. As the access to education and research continues to grow, a person’s mindset develops. As more people become more health-conscious, they naturally want to learn more about how to effect change in a positive way. For example, Former First Lady Michelle Obama was intentional about making sure the children of America exercised daily and ate well. She planted a White House garden of fresh produce and even traveled to different elementary schools in DC to plant gardens. Planting a garden might sound simple, but it’s just a different type of education to show the importance of knowing where your food comes from.

3. Social Media Awareness

With the emergence of social media, more Millennials are able to see ways to eat and live healthier lifestyles. Between fitness gurus on Instagram, health conscious cooks on YouTube and lots of lifestyle sites in the blogosphere, it’s hard not to be intentional about trying to live a healthier life. Even with this generation’s tendency to work a lot of hours in a sedentary position, they know that activity is important and will squeeze it in where they can. The most recent health documentary exposed the realities of what’s happening in the food industry. The shock value of the documentary went viral across social media channels and inspired many people to jump into Veganism as a full-fledged lifestyle.

4. Technology

Nowadays, so many Millennials invest in time-saving and tracking technology. Everything on the schedule is synced to the laptop, smartphone and Google calendar. If you have a dentist appointment, there’s no way to miss unless you don’t schedule it. Dental hygiene is incredibly important and if it’s time for dental fillings, you don’t want to miss them. Scheduling and proactively taking care of your physical health is so much easier due to technology.

Furthermore, Apple continues to release new technologies that enhance the lives of people all over the world. Most recently, the tech giant released a new AppleWatch with the ability to monitor the heart in a different way. Simply by attaching the watch to the wrist, a person will be able to understand when their heart rate is at a dangerous level. This can happen even when they’re sitting down. Going for a jog with the iPhone strapped to your arm will tell you how many steps you took and what you should start doing in order to get out of a plateau.

Millennials Choose To Be Health Conscious

At the core, the world will always change. Humans will always adapt to that change and life will continue. Even though the news and messages coming from the media can be difficult to consume, Millennials realize that the lack of intention behind these four ways tactics can yield catastrophic results.