The Effect of Eating Habits’ Quality on Scholastic Performance in Turkish Adolescents

Abstract

Evidence associates scholastic performance to quality of eating habits. However, there is limited information on this topic in Turkey, an emerging economy with notable disparities. Our work aimed to evaluate the effect of eating habits quality of high-school students in Turkey, on the Scholastic Aptitude Standardized Examination (TEOG) scores. The study was conducted in 29 different cities in Turkey during the academic year 2016–2017, involving students of ages 14–17 years (up to senior-high school). A dietary habits survey developed and validated for this population was distributed over the internet in February 2017. Apart from students’ TEOG scores, Family Affluence Score (FAS) was used to categorize the students into low, medium, and high financial standing. Eating Habits Score (EHS) was calculated by using a validated scoring system. A working sample of 298 participants was used. Based on our results, we observed that there is a significant positive correlation between EHS, FAS and success rate of students as assessed by TEOG scores. Further research on this subject should be conducted in combination with intervention studies to reveal potential strategies and policies that would enhance positive behavior change as it relates to nutritional habits, aiming at improved scholastic performance and overall health throughout lifespan.

Traditional Societal Practices Can Avert Poor Dietary Habits and Reduce Obesity Risk in Preschool Children of Mothers with Low Socioeconomic Status and Unemployment

“…Family awareness, knowledge, and attitude regarding nutrition and diet constitute key parameters, important for forming healthy eating practices in children [ 5 ]. Notably, nutritional habits do not only affect children’s physical growth and health but also their psychosocial and emotional development in addition to language and motor development [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Children mimic and finally adapt to the food choices, eating patterns and behaviours modelled by family members as they grow up [ 9 ].…”

“…The work specifically demonstrated that child nutritional status and child growth improve as maternal nutritional awareness increases [ 29 ]. In children, healthier eating habits can support better academic performance [ 6 , 30 ]. Moreover, child health is shown as an important indicator of the lifespan and life quality, as well as the economic development of a country [ 6 , 30 , 31 ].…”

“…Correcting suboptimal practices established during early childhood through positive behavioural modification is significantly demanding, inconvenient and challenging. A more effective approach is preventing children from establishing poor habits, by reinforcing a combination of healthy nutritional practices and proper education synergistically through family and school [6,10].…”

“…In children, healthier eating habits can support better academic performance [6,30]. Moreover, child health is shown as an important indicator of the lifespan and life quality, as well as the economic development of a country [6,30,31].…”

Performance Habits: A Framework Proposal

“…So far, the main themes in habit research in human focuses on the formation of health habits (Lally and Gardner, 2013 ; Gardner, 2015 ), which is of course of utmost individual and societal importance. Habit research in the field of human performance however is sparse—with some exceptions regarding academic, cognitive, and athletic performance (Cotrena et al, 2016 ; Dubuc et al, 2019 ; Longo et al, 2019 ; Fiorella, 2020 ; Kristo et al, 2020 )—and we aim in this opinion piece to outline a range of dimensions which could benefit from the conceptualization of habits for optimizing performance.…”