Abstract
Background: Establishing early healthy eating and physical activity behaviours is critical in supporting children’s long-term health and well-being. The objective of the current paper was to examine the association between health behaviours and academic performance in elementary school students in a school board in Nova Scotia, Canada. Methods: Our population-based study included students in grades 4–6 across 18 schools in a rural school board. Diet and physical activity were assessed through validated instruments. Academic performance measures were obtained from the school board for Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). Associations between health behaviours and academic performance were assessed using multilevel logistic regression. Results: Students with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours were more likely to have poor academic performance for both ELA and Mathematics compared to students with healthy lifestyle behaviours; associations were statistically significant for diet quality, physical activity, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption for ELA; and breakfast skipping, not being physically active at morning recess, and not being physically active after school for Mathematics. The effects of diet and physical activity were independent of each other and there was no interaction between the two exposures. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that support for healthy behaviours may help to improve academic outcomes of students.
Highlights
Establishing early healthy eating and physical activity behaviours is critical in supporting children’s long-term health and well-being
A recent review suggested that patterns of diet and physical activity (PA) among children and youth cluster together in complex ways that are not well understood [40], suggesting that both health behaviours need to be assessed for their effect on academic performance independently
Our findings suggest that offering afterschool programs may help to support academic performance, as we observed that increased participation in PA after school was significantly associated with better academic performance in Mathematics
Summary
Establishing early healthy eating and physical activity behaviours is critical in supporting children’s long-term health and well-being. Further research on the associations of health behaviours and academic performance will help to clarify how current population health interventions in schools (e.g., HE and PA policies and programs) influence learning outcomes, so as to justify continued and future investment [5]. Eating a nutritious diet has been known to have a variety of benefits to the health of children and youth, especially on the development and health of brain structure and function [6]. A child’s nutritional status may be influenced by a diet that is lacking in overall food (nutrient insufficiency) or in important micronutrients (nutrient deficiency) that help the brain and body function [7], thereby having an impact on school performance. Food insufficiency has been associated with significantly lower standardized mathematics scores compared to students who reported having enough to eat [8]
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