Obesity, High-Calorie Food Intake, and Academic Achievement Trends Among U.S. School Children

• Published in: The Journal of educational research (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2012-09, Vol.105 (6), p.391-403
• Main Authors: Li, Jian, O'Connell, Ann A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Correlation; Diet; early childhood study; Eating Habits; Elementary education; Elementary School Students; Fast food; Food; food quality; Grade 5; hierarchical linear modeling; Kindergarten; Longitudinal Studies; longitudinal study; Mathematics; Mathematics Achievement; Mathematics education; mathematics/reading trajectory; Obesity; Reading Achievement; Reading instruction; Scores; Statistical Analysis; Student Attitudes; Trend Analysis; Trends
• ISSN: 0022-0671; 1940-0675
• DOI: 10.1080/00220671.2011.646359

The authors investigated children's self-reported high-calorie food intake in Grade 5 and its relationship to trends in obesity status and academic achievement over the first 6 years of school. They used 3-level hierarchical linear models in the large-scale database (the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort). Findings indicated that frequency of eating fast food in Grade 5 was negatively related to mathematics and reading scores at Grade 5 and to the grow rate in both subjects. Frequency of obtaining salty snacks at school was moderately and negatively related to mathematics performance at Grade 5. School vending machines were not significantly associated with academic achievement patterns or obesity status. These results are informative of trends worth further investigation through prospective models.