The combined impact of diet, physical activity, sleep and screen time on academic achievement: a prospective study of elementary school students in Nova Scotia, Canada

Abstract

BackgroundFew studies have investigated the independent associations of lifestyle behaviors (diet, physical activity, sleep, and screen time) and body weight status with academic achievement. Even fewer have investigated the combined effect of these behaviors on academic achievement. We hypothesize that the combined effect of these behaviors will have a higher impact on academic achievement than any behavior alone, or that of body weight status.MethodsIn 2011, 4253 grade 5 (10–11 years old) students and their parents were surveyed about the child’s diet, physical activity, screen time and sleep. Students’ heights and weights were measured by research assistants. Academic achievement was measured using provincial standardized exams in mathematics, reading and writing, and was expressed as ‘meeting’ or ‘not meeting’ expectations as per standardized criterion. Exams were written 1 year following the measurement of lifestyle behaviors. Lifestyle behaviors were measured with self- and parental proxy reports and expressed as meeting recommendations (yes/no) for each behavior. Mixed effects logistic regression models adjusting for demographic confounders and caloric intake were used to determine the independent and combined associations.ResultsMeeting dietary recommendations was associated with increased likelihood of meeting academic expectations for each of math, reading and writing. Meeting recommendations for screen time and sleep was associated with meeting expectations for writing. For all three subjects, meeting additional lifestyle behavior recommendations was associated with higher likelihood of meeting expectations. Children who met 7–9 lifestyle behavior recommendations had greater than three-times the odds of meeting expectations for reading compared to those who met 0–3 recommendations (OR: 3.07, 95% CI: 2.09, 4.51), and 1.47 and 2.77 times the odds of meeting expectations in mathematics and writing, respectively. Body weight status was not associated with academic achievement.ConclusionsWe found that lifestyle behaviors, not body weight status, are strongly associated with student academic performance. Promoting compliance with established healthy lifestyle recommendations could improve both the health and educational outcomes of school-aged children. School-based health promotion initiatives that target multiple lifestyle behaviors may have a greater effect on academic achievement than those that focus on a single behavior.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-017-0476-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Lifestyle Habits Predict Academic Performance in High School Students: The Adolescent Student Academic Performance Longitudinal Study (ASAP)

“…Furthermore, the findings in the present study are mostly in line with results from a previous 1-year prospective study [42]. In that study, the authors examined if a combination of lifestyle habits, including screen time as well as eating and sleeping habits, could impact academic performance of 4253 elementary students from 10 and 11 years old [42]. They concluded that adherence to screen time as well as eating and sleeping recommendations increase the likelihood of having a better academic performance in mathematics, reading and writing.…”

“…They concluded that adherence to screen time as well as eating and sleeping recommendations increase the likelihood of having a better academic performance in mathematics, reading and writing. Also, they reported that adherence to multiple healthy lifestyle recommendations have an additive effect on the associations with academic performance [42]. In contrast, results of a 2-year longitudinal study conducted in the United Kingdom in 11014 children indicated that screen time at 5 years old did not predict variations in attention capacity 2 years later [57].…”

“…It should also be noted that most of the existing research on the association between lifestyle habits with cognitive control and academic performance used cross-sectional designs and few were school-based [41], reinforcing the pertinence of performing longitudinal studies directly in high school settings. To our knowledge, no prospective study has examined if the combination of several lifestyle habits such as screen time, studying time, employment status as well as eating and sleeping habits may predict cognitive control and academic performance during adolescence [41,42]. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if lifestyle habits could predict changes (∆s) in cognitive control and academic performance in high school students using a longitudinal approach.…”

Physical activity, diet and other behavioural interventions for improving cognition and school achievement in children and adolescents with obesity or overweight

“…A British birth cohort study (N = 12,537) indicates that adolescent obesity (at age 16 years) is associated with fewer years of schooling and predicts lower income in young women (at age 23 years), including those who are no longer obese (Sargent 1994). These findings were further confirmed by Han 2011, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (N = 1974, follow-up 12 to 16 years), and by Sabia 2012, using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 12,445, follow-up 13 years) in the USA. Findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 in the USA (N = 8427, follow-up eight years) suggest that obese adolescents had a 39% lower chance of obtaining a college degree than peers of normal weight (Fowler-Brown 2010).…”

Dietary habits and body weight status of Undergraduate Medical Students of Bangladesh and their Influence on Academic Performance

“…Few studies have investigated the independent associations of lifestyle behaviors like; diet, physical activity, and body weight status with academic achievement. Even fewer have investigated the combined effect of these behaviors on 5 academic achievement. There has been no study on this issue in Bangladesh to focus on medical students' diet and body weight status and their relationship with the results of professional examinations and class attendance.…”