Abstract
Body mass index (BMI) is an indicator to detect weight category and known to influence the academic achievements of students. The present study assesses the association of BMI, physical activity with academic performance among undergraduate female students of health colleges, King Khalid University (KKU). Responses from 379 participants were analyzed in the study. Data collection was done by administering an online questionnaire using the university website portal. The questionnaire consists of two sections: the first section includes demographic information along with cumulative Grade point average (GPA) and another section rated student’s physical activity. A high frequency of respondents (53.6%) ranged within the normal BMI category. For academic performance, the majority (79.9%) of students reported high GPA scores with a mean of 4.28 ± 0.41. Upon correlation, academic performance was found negatively correlated with BMI at 0.0001 level of significance, and insignificantly correlated with physical activity. The present study observed that more than half of the respondents had normal BMI. An inverse relationship was observed between BMI and academic performance, showing participants within the normal BMI category achieved significantly higher GPA. In contrast, physical activity directly influenced the academic performance of the subjects. Therefore, the study suggests to enact counselling centers, health clubs in universities urging the students to adopt regular exercise and healthy lifestyle which could prepare them in achieving future endeavors.
Highlights
IntroductionThe prediction and explanation of academic performance and the investigation of the factors relating to the academic success of students are issues of utmost importance in higher education
The overall academic performance was significantly negatively correlated with Body mass index (BMI) among the students
Significantly attained higher Grade point average (GPA), those with low GPA were significantly correlated with high BMI in different health specialties of King Khaled University, KSA
Summary
The prediction and explanation of academic performance and the investigation of the factors relating to the academic success of students are issues of utmost importance in higher education. The college period could be a stressful phase as a result of significant changes at educational level and social level. Undergraduates portray diverse ways of lifestyle including physical activity and dietary patterns [1]. The utmost imperative lifestyle changes were eating more snacks between meals, spending extensive time using smartphones and computer for entertainment instead of exercise participation. Obesity becomes a more prevalent serious problem among university students which certainly has negative consequences on the health outcomes of undergraduates [2]. Numerous studies with significant frequencies reported the obesity among college students [3,4,5]
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