Self-reported learning difficulties and dietary intake in Norwegian adolescents

Øverby, Nina Cecilie; Lüdemann, Eva; Høigaard, Rune

doi:10.1177/1403494813487449

Cited by 68 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…A small number of studies have employed screening questions, asking if the participants believe they have LD (e.g. Patterson, Moniruzzaman, Frankish, & Somers, 2012;Øverby, Lüdemann, & Høigaard, 2013). In the Patterson et al study (2012) two questions predicted several outcomes (e.g., educational attainment, mental and substance abuse problems), thus showing that brief measures may have acceptable validity, but we considered two questions as too narrow in our study.…”

Section: An Important Factor Impeding a Self-autonomous Learning Procmentioning

confidence: 77%

Demographic and psychological predictors of grade point average (GPA) in North-Norway: a particular analysis of cognitive/school-related and literacy problems

Sæle

Sørlie

Nergård‐Nilssen

et al. 2015

Educational Psychology

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Approximately 30 % of students drop out from Norwegian upper secondary schools. Academic achievement, as indexed by Grade Point Average (GPA) is one of the strongest predictors of dropout.The present study aimed to examine the role of cognitive, school-related and affective/psychological predictors of GPA. In addition, we examined the psychometric properties of a new scale for literacy problems (LP), as well as its role for GPA. Analyses showed that the scale had favourable psychometric properties. Multivariable regression analyses showed that study track choice, task solving skills, gender, lack of educational plans and literacy problems predicted GPA in descending order. The major implication of the study was that GPA is related to a multiple number of demographic, cognitive, and psychosocial factors, and that any interventions addressing GPA will be less effective if not addressing psychosocial in addition to cognitively/school-related factors.

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Section: An Important Factor Impeding a Self-autonomous Learning Procmentioning

confidence: 77%

Demographic and psychological predictors of grade point average (GPA) in North-Norway: a particular analysis of cognitive/school-related and literacy problems

Sæle

Sørlie

Nergård‐Nilssen

et al. 2015

Educational Psychology

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“…Whereas most of the previously published studies have focused on the effect of breakfast consumption, Kim and coworkers [9] reported a general association between the consumption of regular meals, including breakfast, lunch and dinner, and academic achievement in Korean children. Furthermore, a less frequent intake of unhealthy foods and not skipping meals was associated with a decreased odds of self-reported learning difficulties in Norwegian adolescents [10], while having a low overall diet quality was associated with a low academic score in Canadian children [11]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of lifestyle habits and academic achievement in Norwegian adolescents: a cross-sectional study

2014

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BackgroundWhile healthy lifestyle habits are generally assumed to be important for high academic achievement, there has been little research on this topic among adolescents. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the associations between several lifestyle habits and academic achievement in adolescent girls and boys.MethodsThe study included 2,432 Norwegian adolescents, 15–17 years old. A self-report questionnaire was used to assess dietary-, physical activity-, smoking- and snuffing habits and academic achievement. Logistic regression models were adjusted for body mass index (BMI) and parental education.ResultsIn both girls and boys, high academic achievement was associated with a regular consumption of breakfast (AOR: 3.30 (2.45-4.45) and AOR: 1.76 (1.32-2.34), respectively) and lunch (AOR: 1.44 (1.08-1.93) and AOR: 1.43 (1.09-1.89), respectively), and in boys, with a regular consumption of dinner (AOR: 1.44 (1.16-1.79)) and a regular meal pattern in general (AOR: 1.50 (1.10 – 2.03)). In both girls and boys, high academic achievement was associated with a high intake of fruit and berries (AOR: 2.09 (1.51-2.88) and AOR: 1.47 (1.04-2.07), respectively), and in girls, with a high intake of vegetables (AOR: 1.82 (1.30-2.53)). In both girls and boys, high academic achievement was associated with a high leisure time physical activity level (AOR: 1.51 (1.10-2.08) and AOR: 1.39 (1.05-1.85), respectively) and use of active commuting (AOR: 1.51 (1.10-2.08) and AOR: 1.72 (1.26-2.35), respectively). In both girls and boys, high academic achievement was associated with a low intake of lemonade (AOR: 0.42 (0.27-0.64) and AOR: 0.67 (0.48-0.94), respectively), and in girls, with a low intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks (AOR: 0.47 (0.35- 0.64)) and salty snacks (AOR: 0.63 (0.47-0.85)). Lastly, high academic achievement was inversely associated with smoking and snuffing in both girls (AOR: 0.18 (0.12-0.25) and AOR: 0.25 (0.17-0.37), respectively) and boys (AOR: 0.37 (0.25-0.54) and AOR: 0.51 (0.36-0.72), respectively).ConclusionsA regular meal pattern, an intake of healthy food items and being physically active were all associated with increased odds of high academic achievement, whereas the intake of unhealthy food and beverages, smoking cigarettes and snuffing were associated with decreased odds of high academic achievement in Norwegian adolescents.

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“…They found that performance in Icelandic, Mathematics and foreign languages was negatively influenced by poor dietary habits, although both studies used self-reported averaged grades to measure academic outcomes. In Norwegian 9th and 10th grade adolescents (n 475), Øverby et al observed that a high intake of foods representing a poor diet was significantly associated with increased odds of mathematical difficulties (23) . In previous research using the same sample, Øverby and Høigaard had found that receiving an optimal diet was linked with decreased odds of behavioural problems at school (24) .…”

Section: Main Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of nutrition and academic performance and/or behaviour have typically focused on the effect of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency (19,20) . Very few have addressed the effect of overnutrition and they have been mostly carried out in developed countries (21)(22)(23)(24)(25) . Due to the lack of evidence from countries undergoing transitional processes, the aim of the present study was to examine the association between diet as a composite measure and academic outcomes in children from Chile, a middleincome country that underwent a profound shift from under-to overnutrition in less than two decades (26)(27)(28) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between unhealthy snacking at school and academic outcomes: a population study in Chilean schoolchildren

Correa‐Burrows

Burrows

Orellana

et al. 2014

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: We examined the association between unhealthy snacking at school and academic outcomes in students from the Santiago Metropolitan Region (Chile). Design: Cross-sectional population-based study. Setting: We measured the nutritional quality of snacks at school using an FFQ, and accounting for the amounts of saturated fat, fibre, sugar and salt in the foods, and academic outcomes using national standardized test scores in Language and Mathematics. Multivariate regression analyses modelled the relationship between unhealthy snacking at school (exposure), potential confounders and performance in Mathematics and Language (outcomes). Subjects: Random sample of 1073 students (13·1 (SD 2·3) years old) attending public, partially subsidized and private schools. Results: Fifty-six per cent of students ate items at snack time that were high in fat, sugar, salt and energy, and thus were considered to have unhealthy snaking. Thirty-six per cent and 8 % were considered to have poor-to-fair and healthy snacking, respectively. Unhealthy snacking significantly lowered the odds of good academic performance in both domains. Students having unhealthy snacks were 56 % less likely to pass in Language (fully adjusted OR = 0·44; 95 % CI 0·23, 0·85) and 66 % less likely to pass in Mathematics (fully adjusted OR = 0·34; 95 % CI 0·19, 0·64) compared with students having healthy snack items. Conclusions: Schoolchildren eating unhealthy foods at snack time had worse academic performance in Language and Mathematics, as measured by a standardized test. Although association does not imply causation, these findings support the notion that academic and health-related behaviours are linked. More research is needed on the effect of school health programmes on educational outcomes.

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Self-reported learning difficulties and dietary intake in Norwegian adolescents

Abstract: Having a less-frequent intake of unhealthy foods and not skipping meals are associated with decreased odds of self-reported learning difficulties in Norwegian adolescents in this study. The results of this study support the need for a larger study with a more representative sample.

Cited by 68 publications

References 27 publications

Demographic and psychological predictors of grade point average (GPA) in North-Norway: a particular analysis of cognitive/school-related and literacy problems

Demographic and psychological predictors of grade point average (GPA) in North-Norway: a particular analysis of cognitive/school-related and literacy problems

Association of lifestyle habits and academic achievement in Norwegian adolescents: a cross-sectional study

The relationship between unhealthy snacking at school and academic outcomes: a population study in Chilean schoolchildren

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