Is There an Association between Health Risk Behaviours and Academic Achievement among University Students?

Abstract

University students have high rates of health risk behaviours, and these may be predictive of academic success. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the association between individual and multiple health risk behaviours and academic achievement in a sample of Australian university students. Data from the University of Newcastle Student Healthy Lifestyle Survey 2019 were used. Health risk behaviours (diet, physical activity, sitting time, sleep, alcohol consumption, smoking) were assessed, and total number of risk factors calculated. Academic achievement was assessed using self-reported grade point average (GPA). The association between health risk behaviours and GPA was explored using linear regression, adjusted for socio-demographic and student characteristics. The sample included 1543 students (mean age 25.0 ± 7.9 years, 70.6% female). Lower GPA was associated with not meeting fruit consumption recommendations (β = −0.203), consuming >1 cup of soft drink/week (β = −0.307), having takeaway foods ≥1 time/week (β = −0.130), not consuming breakfast daily (β = −0.261), not meeting sleep recommendations (β = −0.163), exceeding single occasion alcohol consumption risk (β = −0.277), smoking (β = −0.393), and having a higher number of risk factors (β = −0.105). This study identified modest associations between GPA and health risk behaviours, suggesting that further research is warranted into whether strategies to improve university students’ health could modestly improve their academic achievement.

Academic Achievements, Satisfaction with Studies and Risky Behaviours among First-Year Students of Kaunas (Lithuania) Universities, 2000–2017

“…Furthermore, students who rated their academic performance below average and were dissatisfied with studies reported frequent alcohol consumption and drinking problems more often than those rating their performance above average and being satisfied with studies. These results are in agreement with findings from the studies conducted among students in other countries, which confirmed that hazardous alcohol consumption is linked to worse academic performance [4,16,[43][44][45][46]. Students consuming alcohol at a hazardous level were late for class, missed classes, and were unable to concentrate and complete assignments in class; therefore, received lower grades, failed exams and had other academic problems.…”

“…Limited studies examine associations between cigarette smoking and academic achievements. Some authors reported that smoking was a negative predictor of lower grade point average in students [4,14,17]. Our data showed higher prevalence of drug use only in male students who declared low importance of good grades compared to those who argued the opposite.…”

“…Previous studies indicated that hazardous alcohol consumption, smoking, and marijuana use were linked to low academic performance [4,14,15]. Students with risky behaviours had lower academic motivation, received lower grades, and failed more subjects than students with a healthy lifestyle [16,17].…”

“…This affects health and quality of life. Research evidence suggests that academic achievements of students are associated with various factors, including socioeconomic status, quality of an educational institution, learning strategies, learning motivation, cognitive abilities, and health behaviours, especially sleep and substance use [2][3][4]. Determining factors associated with academic achievements is important to universities and students.…”

Dietary intake and educational outcomes among Australian university students: cross-sectional and longitudinal associations

“…For every one SD increase in sodium intake (1267 mg, which represents 63% of the suggested dietary target of 2000mg/day), there was an associated decrease in semester GPA of 0.368. While there are no comparable studies that report sodium intake and their association with EO (3) , previous evidence found that increased consumption of food that is high in sodium is associated with a lower GPA in university students (10,39,40) . The magnitude of the association between sodium intake and semester GPA was negligible both in our study and previous studies, which indicates that sodium intake may be more important to consider in investigations focusing on chronic disease risk than EO.…”