Health behaviour and academic achievement in Icelandic school children

Abstract

Interest in the relationship between health behaviours and academic achievement has recently intensified in the face of an epidemic of childhood and adolescent obesity and converging school reforms in the United States and other nations with advanced economies. Epidemiologic research has demonstrated that poor diet and lack of adequate physical activity place children at risk for being overweight and obese and thus influence future health status. Additional research has also shown that children and adolescents whose diets are nutritious and whose participation in physical activity is high tend to perform better on various measures of cognitive performance and academic achievement. We analysed cross-sectional survey data from 5810 Icelandic school children to explore the relationship between selected health behaviours and academic achievement. Body mass index, diet and physical activity explained up to 24% (P < 0.01) of the variance in academic achievement when controlling for gender, parental education, family structure and absenteeism. Variance explained increases to 27% when depressed mood (P < 0.05) and self-esteem (P < 0.01) are added to the model, but confounds the role of physical activity. Although not robust, these findings are consistent with previous work and affirm the complexity of the relationship of health to academic achievement.

Teasing and social rejection among obese children enrolling in family-based behavioural treatment: effects on psychological adjustment and academic competencies

“…Recent population studies from children and youth in Iceland lend support to this hypothesis as cross-sectional associations between higher BMI, psychological maladjustment and lower academic competencies, as displayed by academic performance, were observed. 17,29 Also supporting the hypothesis are results from studies in general samples that consistently show psychological adjustment to be an important predicting factor for academic competencies and performance, as well as for academic attainment. 30,31 Education and academic attainment is highly correlated with income and occupation and it is one of the most important predictors of health.…”

“…However, a higher degree of overweight has not been associated with an increased risk of psychological maladjustment in clinical samples of obese children, 2,9-11 although this association has been commonly observed among community-based samples. [17][18][19] Few studies have been published about the moderators and mediators of the association between childhood obesity and academic competencies, but suggested factors include parental education and SES, child's gender, school absenteeism, 6,7,17,20 diet and physical activity, 17 psychological adjustment 17 and most recently weight-based stigma, teasing and social rejection. 8 Among children in general, approximately 17-30% report experiencing teasing and social rejection.…”

Physical Activiti Among Medical Students of Imam Universisty and Its Effect on Their Academic Performance.

“…They found that the correlation between physical activity and grades is positive and significant (P < 0.01) and findings are consistent with previous work and affirm the complexity of the relationship of health to academic achievement. [8] Pei-An Liao1, Hung-Hao Chang et al discussed Physical fitness and academic performance: empirical evidence from the National Administrative Senior High School Student Data in Taiwan. They used a dataset of 149 240 university-bound senior high school students from 2009 to 2011 was constructed by merging two nationwide administrative datasets of physical fitness test performance and the university entrance exam scores.…”

Qualidade da dieta de escolares do município de São Paulo

“…Nesta faixa etária, o crescimento ocorre mais lentamente e de forma constante, quando comparado aos adolescentes (SIGFÚSDÓTTIR et al, 2007;CECANE-SC, 2012;CRESSWELL et al, 2013).…”

“…Nesta fase, o rendimento escolar está diretamente relacionado com sua alimentação, pois carências nutricionais (ex.anemia ferropriva) ou desnutrição energético-proteica podem reduzir a capacidade de concentração, comprometendo o desenvolvimento e a aprendizagem da criança (SIGFÚSDÓTTIR et al, 2007;CECANE-SC, 2012). …”