Prevalencia de sobrepeso y obesidad, hábitos alimentarios y actividad física y su relación sobre el rendimiento académico (Prevalence of overweight and obesity, exercise, and dietary habits, and their relation with academic achievement)

Abstract

El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo determinar la prevalencia de sobrepeso y obesidad así como evaluar la práctica de actividad física y pautas alimentarias en niños escolares de 3º Ciclo de Educación Primaria y su relación con el rendimiento escolar. Un total de 115 niños de 5 y 6º de Educación Primaria fueron seleccionados en escuelas públicas de Bollullos del Condado (Huelva). La composición corporal se determinó mediante impedancia bioeléctrica (Tanita MC-980), la actividad física mediante el cuestionario PAQ-A, los hábitos alimentarios mediante un cuestionario de frecuencia de consumo, hábitos y prácticas de alimentación para escolares y el rendimiento académico con las calificaciones medias del trimestre anterior. Se observó una mayor práctica de actividad física y mayor masa muscular y ósea por parte de los chicos que las chicas. Las cifras de sobrepeso y/o obesidad y/o porcentaje graso resultaron ser elevadas y el consumo de alimentos básicos reducido, observándose relación entre un bajo consumo de frutas, verduras y lácteos con un peor rendimiento académico. Existe la necesidad de fomentar una educación en hábitos saludables, con la finalidad de aumentar la práctica de actividad física y mejores hábitos alimentarios, repercutiendo así sobre el rendimiento académico.Abstract. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity, as well as to evaluate physical activity and food frequency patterns in school-aged children from the 3rd cycle of Primary Education, and their relationship with academic achievement. A total of 115 students were selected from 5th and 6th grades of public primary schools in Bollullos del Condado (Huelva). Body composition was assessed through Tanita MC-980, physical activity through the PAQ-A questionnaire, dietary habits using a food frequency consumption questionnaire, and academic performance by reviewing students’ grades from the previous term. Results showed greater physical activity practice together with greater muscular and bone mass in boys compared to girls. Regarding fat percentage, a high prevalence of overweight and/or obesity was observed. The food consumption analysis revealed a reduced consumption of basic groups of food in contrast with unhealthier food; a relation between lower consumption of fruits, vegetables and dairy products and lower academic performance was observed. There is a need to promote healthy habits education, with the aim of increasing the practice of physical activity, as well as to improve dietary habits, which have an impact on academic performance.

Analysis of the Quality of Diet and Academic Performance in Rural Primary School Students

“…In this sense, Esteban-Cornejoet al (2016) reflected that the benefits of adherence to the Mediterranean diet over AP seem to be stronger as young people adhere to the optimal levels of the Mediterranean diet. For example, Iglesias et al (2019) only found that a low consumption of fruits, vegetables, and dairy products was related to a worse AR.…”

“…In this regard, recent research in primary school students has analyzed the relationship between the quality of the diet and AP (Alfonso Rosa, Álvarez Barbosa, & del Pozo Cruz, 2018;Esteban-Cornejo et al, 2016;Faught et al, 2017;Iglesias, Planells, & Molina López, 2019;McIsaac, Kirk, & Kuhle, 2015;Nyaradi et al, 2016;Pearce et al, 2018;Vassiloudis, Yiannakouris, Panagiotakos, Apostolopoulos, & Costarelli, 2014). A systematic review reflects that there are moderate associations between the dietary intake characterized by the consumption of foods rich in energy and poor in nutrients and the general quality of the diet with respect to the results of the AP (Burrows, Goldman, Pursey, & Lim, 2017).…”

Panorama del sobrepeso y la obesidad en escolares de Latinoamérica (Overview of overweight and obesity in Latin American schools)

“…The problems of excess weight of the Region may be related to the low proportion of active population and the high number of population that remains inactive, requiring a lot of effort to systematically increase the performance of physical activity of the school environment and for it to extend to the family and the community (Cuadri Fernández, et al, 2017;Iglesias et al, 2019;Alvarez et al, 2020). The reported data is not optimistic about the school health problem in the short, medium and long term in the Region.…”

Healthy Lifestyle and Academic Performance in Middle School Students from the Region of Aragón (Spain)

“…In addition, previous studies have reported a positive association between maintaining a healthy diet and practicing regular physical exercise on academic performance [9][10][11][12][13]. However, some studies have reported an inadequate dietary intake in this population, including insufficient consumption of fruit and vegetables, and an excessive consumption of meat, sweets, and sugary drinks [14,15]. Other factors contributing to a less than optimal lifestyle in this population include digital transformation, which has increased the use of screens and, subsequently, reduced daily physical activity [14].…”

“…However, the evidence on the association between lifestyle and academic performance is not clear. On the one hand, some studies have observed weak or non-significant associations between diet and academic performance [9,15,24,25]. On the other hand, previous studies have not found an association between regular physical exercise and academic performance [12,15,26].…”