Snacking Quality Is Associated with Secondary School Academic Achievement and the Intention to Enroll in Higher Education: A Cross-Sectional Study in Adolescents from Santiago, Chile

Exploring the effects of health behaviors and mental health on students' academic achievement: a cross-sectional study on lebanese university students

BACKGROUND

High academic achievement, an important determinant of future success, is known to be influenced by many factors including dietary behavior, lifestyle and mental health, among others. The objectives of the current study were to explore university students' nutritive habits, daily lifestyle, and mental status, and to scrutinize the associations between these factors and students' academic achievement.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among students of a private Lebanese university, using an electronic survey. Diet, eating habits, physical activity, sleep, and smoking were evaluated, and mental health was assessed using a validated Arabic version of the combined Depression, Anxiety, Stress Score (DASS-8). Academic achievement was measured using the Subjective Academic Achievement Scale (SAAS).

RESULTS

A total of 1677 students participated in the questionnaire. The results of a linear regression taking the SAAS score as the dependent variable, showed that students who have a non-scientific versus scientific major (Beta = 0.53), and having breakfast ≥ 4 days per week compared to less than 2 days (Beta = 0.28) were significantly associated with higher SAAS scores. More psychological distress (Beta = - 0.06) and a higher number of days of eating out (Beta = - 0.07) were significantly associated with lower SAAS scores.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first investigation on a Lebanese university students' academic success in relation to lifestyle and mental profiles. Better academic achievement was demonstrated by students having healthier dietary and lifestyle habits, as well as less distressing mental status. Such results, in light of the compounded and unprecedented crises with which Lebanon has been assailed, suggest the need to focus on promoting healthy habits among students in higher education as a possible driver of better academic success.

Effectiveness of Diet Habits and Active Life in Vocational Training for Higher Technician in Dietetics: Contrast between the Traditional Method and the Digital Resources

Vocational training of students in diet habits and active lifestyle habits has recently become an important issue, given the health problems caused as a result of a poor diet. The objective of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of different training actions (traditional method and digital resources) carried out in a program of dietary habits and active lifestyle at the vocational training stage. A quasi-experimental design of the pre-post type was developed. A sample of 177 participants was chosen. The instrument to collect the data was the validated ECHAES questionnaire. The results show that all study groups demonstrated similar averages across all dimensions, except in the digital resource post-test design, where the averages were higher than the rest. There was a significant relationship between the traditional teaching method and the post-test digital resources design in all dimensions. There was also a significant relationship between the pre-test and post-test of the traditional teaching method and the digital resource group in the dimensions. It can be concluded that both the traditional and the innovative method lead to learning in the vocational training student, although the values achieved by the group where the innovative method was adopted were much higher than in the traditional group.

Education and Diet in the Scientific Literature: A Study of the Productive, Structural, and Dynamic Development in Web of Science

Nutrition-related education is necessary to protect and improve the health status of schoolchildren and to minimize the risk of future diseases. The objective of this research was to analyze the trajectory and transcendence of the concepts “education” and “diet” in the Web of Science literature. The methodology focused on bibliometry, analyzing both the performance and the structural and dynamic development of the concepts through a co-word analysis. A total of 1247 documents were analyzed, and the results show that scientific production experienced a turning point in 2009, in comparison to the level of production reported in previous years. The medium of papers and the language of English were the most common. In relation to the research topic, before 2014, scientific production focused on medical and disease-related aspects; however, since 2014, it has focused on disease prevention and feeding. It was therefore concluded that the theme “diet and education” has been researched for more than 20 years, although it is only in the last decade that it has become more relevant—particularly studies focusing on disease prevention and the type of food, specifically fruit, which is presented as the most outstanding issue for researchers in this field of knowledge.

Dietary Intervention through Flipped Learning as a Techno Pedagogy for the Promotion of Healthy Eating in Secondary Education

Technological progress in the educational field has led to the application of active and innovative teaching methods, such as flipped learning, including in the field of dietary education. This is considered a mixed formative approach that combines face-to-face and outside the classroom education. The objective of this research was to analyze the effectiveness of flipped learning methodology on a traditional training practice in dietary training, both in the sixth grade of primary education and in the fourth level of secondary education. A quasi-experimental design was adopted with two experimental groups, two control groups and only posttest. The final sample was composed of 115 students divided into four groups, two of each educational stage mentioned. A didactic unit consisting of six sessions in all groups was applied. Two different training methodologies were followed according to the nature of the group (control-traditional; experimental-flipped learning). The results reveal that flipped learning is effective both in primary education and in secondary education, being more influential in student development in this last stage. It is concluded that the flipped learning approach has meant an improvement of the academic indicators evaluated after a diet education program.

Cardiometabolic health in adolescence and its association with educational outcomes

Aim

To explore the association of selected cardiometabolic biomarkers and metabolic syndrome (MetS) with educational outcomes in adolescents from Chile.

Methods

Of 678 participants, 632 (52% males) met criteria for the study. At 16 years, waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure, triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein and glucose were measured. A continuous cardiometabolic risk score (zMetS) using indicators of obesity, lipids, glucose and blood pressure was computed, with lower values denoting a healthier cardiometabolic profile. MetS was diagnosed with the International Diabetes Federation/American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute joint criteria. Data on high school (HS) graduation, grade point average (GPA), college examination rates and college test scores were collected. Data were analysed controlling for sociodemographic, lifestyle and educational confounders.

Result

zMetS, WC, TG and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance at 16 years were negatively and significantly associated with the odds of completing HS and taking college exams. Notably, for a one-unit increase in zMetS, we found 52% (OR: 0.48, 95% CI 0.227 to 0.98) and 39% (OR: 0.61, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.93) reduction in the odds of HS completion and taking college exams, respectively. The odds of HS completion and taking college exams in participants with MetS were 37% (95% CI 0.14 to 0.98) and 33% (95% CI 0.15 to 0.79) that of participants with no cardiometabolic risk factors. Compared with adolescents with no risk factors, those with MetS had lower GPA (515 vs 461 points; p=0.002; Cohen’s d=0.55). Adolescents having the MetS had significantly lower odds of passing the mathematics exam for college compared with peers with no cardiometabolic risk factors (OR: 0.49; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.95).

Conclusion

In Chilean adolescents, cardiometabolic health was associated with educational outcomes.

Study protocol and rationale of the "Cogni-action project" a cross-sectional and randomized controlled trial about physical activity, brain health, cognition, and educational achievement in schoolchildren

BACKGROUND

Education and health are crucial topics for public policies as both largely determine the future wellbeing of the society. Currently, several studies recognize that physical activity (PA) benefits brain health in children. However, most of these studies have not been carried out in developing countries or lack the transference into the education field. The Cogni-Action Project is divided into two stages, a cross-sectional study and a crossover-randomized trial. The aim of the first part is to establish the associations of PA, sedentarism, and physical fitness with brain structure and function, cognitive performance and academic achievement in Chilean schoolchildren (10-13 years-old). The aim of the second part is to determinate the acute effects of three PA protocols on neuroelectric indices during a working memory and a reading task.

METHODS

PA and sedentarism will be self-reported and objectively-assessed with accelerometers in a representative subsample, whilst physical fitness will be evaluated through the ALPHA fitness test battery. Brain structure and function will be assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a randomized subsample. Cognitive performance will be assessed through the NeuroCognitive Performance Test, and academic achievement by school grades. In the second part 32 adolescents (12-13 year-old) will be cross-over randomized to these condition (i) "Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training" (MICT), (ii) "Cooperative High-Intensity Interval Training" (C-HIIT), and (iii) Sedentary condition. Neuroelectric indices will be measures by electroencephalogram (EEG) and eye-tracking, working memory by n-back task and reading comprehension by a reading task.

DISCUSSION

The main strength of this project is that, to our knowledge, this is the first study analysing the potential association of PA, sedentarism, and physical fitness on brain structure and function, cognitive performance, and academic achievement in a developing country, which presents an important sociocultural gap. For this purpose, this project will use advanced technologies in neuroimaging (MRI), electrophysiology (EEG), and eye-tracking, as well as objective and quality measurements of several physical and cognitive health outcomes.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03894241 Date of register: March 28, 2019. Retrospectively Registered.

Increased Adiposity as a Potential Risk Factor for Lower Academic Performance: A Cross-Sectional Study in Chilean Adolescents from Low-to-Middle Socioeconomic Background

We explored the association between excess body fat and academic performance in high school students from Santiago, Chile. In 632 16-year-olds (51% males) from low-to-middle socioeconomic status (SES), height, weight, and waist circumference were measured. Body-mass index (BMI) and BMI for age and sex were calculated. Weight status was evaluated with 2007 World Health Organization (WHO) references. Abdominal obesity was diagnosed with International Diabetes Federation (IDF) references. Total fat mass (TFM) was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). TFM values ≥25% in males and ≥35% in females were considered high adiposity. School grades were obtained from administrative records. Analysis of covariance examined the association of fatness measures with academic performance, accounting for the effect of diet and physical activity, and controlling SES background and educational confounders. We found that: (1) having obesity, abdominal obesity, or high adiposity was associated with lower school performance alone or in combination with unhealthy dietary habits or reduced time allocation for exercise; (2) high adiposity and abdominal obesity were more clearly related with lower school grades compared to obesity; (3) the association of increased fatness with lower school grades was more salient in males compared to females.