How we helped young people build sustainable wellbeing habits with Glow Up with 42

Glow Up with 42 is an 8-week wellbeing pilot co-developed with Detalytics to help Malaysian youth build sustainable health habits. Through behavioural design, lifestyle medicine, and community-led engagement, the programme supported improvements in daily routines, early health indicators, and self-awareness — laying the groundwork for a scalable youth wellbeing model.

Youth changemakers from Malaysia

Institutions represented: SEGi, Sunway, UniKL, Taylor’s, Sri Emas International School

Partners: Nana Mohd, AirAsia Foundation, City Sprouts, Pause, Impact Hub KL, SaltyCustoms, Suppagood

The mission

Our mission, with Detalytics, was to support Malaysian youth in building healthier, more sustainable lifestyles by equipping them with the mindset, tools, and support systems to care for their overall well-being.

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Amid rising stress levels, irregular routines, and early metabolic health risks among young adults, we set out to test whether a personalised, science-backed wellbeing programme could help youth move beyond awareness and translate knowledge into everyday habits that last.

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Glow Up with 42 was designed as a pilot to explore how behavioural design, lifestyle medicine, and community support could come together to enable real, sustainable behaviour change.

The Brain Juice approach

The Glow Up with 42 programme was built on the understanding that wellbeing habits are shaped by daily realities, not ideal conditions. Rather than assuming what young people needed, the work began with listening.

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Youth insights gathered through surveys, focus group discussions, and foundational meetups informed how the programme was designed and communicated, ensuring it remained practical and relevant. To test what a more holistic intervention could look like, Glow Up with 42 was piloted as an 8-week programme with 12 Malaysian youth aged 17 to 40, intentionally kept small to allow for depth and personalisation.

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The programme was designed as a lifestyle medicine–informed intervention, rather than a typical wellness challenge. Participants completed pre- and post-programme blood tests, used continuous biometric tracking, and followed a structured journey built around six pillars of wellbeing: sleep, nutrition, movement, stress, relationships, and purpose.

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Health science was translated into manageable, everyday actions through a LEARN–DO–REFLECT structure. Gamified weekly challenges were developed in partnership with Gametize, supporting habit-building through points, feedback, and progression. Weekly progress across behaviours and routines was tracked via the 42 app, providing participants with visibility over their consistency and improvements. Gentle nudges, peer accountability, and gamified feedback supported consistency without pressure, while community sessions and group check-ins created space for shared learning and support.

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Motivation and follow-through were reinforced through layered support. Participants received bi-weekly 1:1 consultations with a resident lifestyle medicine doctor, helping them interpret health data and adjust habits realistically. This was complemented by group mentoring sessions led by Coach Nana, which focused on mindset, consistency, and navigating common challenges. An accountability buddy system encouraged regular check-ins and peer support between sessions.

Together, these elements combined medical insight, coaching, behavioural design, and social connection to support sustained engagement and real-world behaviour change throughout the programme.

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Our role

We collaborated with Detalytics on the design, delivery, and implementation of the Glow Up with 42 programme.

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Our role included:

Conducting research on youth wellbeing and behaviour change to inform programme design
Designing and facilitating focus group discussions and foundational meetups
Co-designing the programme structure, gamification logic, and challenge architecture
Translating lifestyle medicine principles into youth-friendly engagement flows
Designing the gamified experience on the Gametize platform
Supporting youth recruitment and community-building sessions
Building and managing a multi-sector partner ecosystem
Supporting impact measurement and reporting

We acted as the bridge between science, youth experience, and scalable programme design.

Our impact

The Glow Up with 42 pilot demonstrated measurable improvements across physical health, lifestyle behaviours, and psychological wellbeing:

Anaemia: 75% of participants who presented with anaemia showed full recovery by the end of the programme.
Metabolic health: No participants progressed toward diabetes; all maintained healthy metabolic indicators throughout the pilot.
Sleep: 82% of participants reported improved sleep quality, with an average increase of 45 minutes of nightly rest.
Nutrition: 50% reduced their intake of processed foods, while 75% improved meal timing and overall nutritional choices.
Stress management: 100% of participants adopted practical stress-regulation tools that supported improved mood and focus.

Beyond individual outcomes, the pilot validated the effectiveness of combining lifestyle medicine, coaching, and behavioural design within a supportive community context — providing a strong foundation for scaling Glow Up with 42 to broader youth and young professional audiences.

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