...Impact of Poor Nutrition on the Academic Performance of Grade Seven learners: A Case of Zimbabwe Kudzai Chinyoka Great Zimbabwe University Department of Educational Foundations Email: chinyokak@gmail.com Doi:10.5296/ijld.v4i3.6169 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/ijld.v4i3.6169 Abstract This paper examined the impact of poor nutrition on the academic performance of grade seven learners at two primary schools in Chivi, Zimbabwe. Its main objective is to identify mitigation policies and measures designed to reduce negative effects of poor nutrition on children’s academic performance. Malnutrition remains one of the major obstacles to human well-being affecting all areas of a child's growth and development, including performance in the classroom. The study is grounded in Maslow’s motivational and needs theory. In this study, a qualitative phenomenological case study design was used with focus group discussions, interviews and observations as data collection instruments to twelve (12) grade seven learners, three (3) headmasters and four (4) teachers, purposively sampled in Masvingo province. Findings revealed that malnutrition affected physical growth, cognitive development and it consequently impacts on academic performance, health and survival of learners. Malnutrition also deepens poverty due to increased health care costs. The study also established that hungry and undernourished grade seven learners were not able to take on physical work and sporting activities...
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...MALNUTRITION What is the problem? Malnutrition : a condition that results from eating a diet in which nutrients are not enough or are too much such that it causes health problems and may sometimes lead to death. It is often used specifically to refer to undernutrition where there is not enough calories, protein or micronutrients; however, it also includes overnutrition. Approximately half of the people on Earth, about 3.5 billion people, are victims of malnutrition and it is considered the largest single contributor to disease in the world, according to the UN's Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN). Malnutrition is a global problem that affects not only developing countries but developed ones as well. In the United States alone, the annual cost for illnesses linked to hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity is $130.5 billion with only $17.8 billion of charitable contributions devoted to addressing these issues. Often thought of as undernourishment in the sense of not getting enough food, malnutrition is the lack of proper nutrients in a person’s diet that contributes to health problems. This means that individuals can be getting enough to eat but are not consuming the daily requirements of calories, protein or micronutrients. ● The global food system is broken. In total around 3.5 billion people — half the people on the planet today — are malnourished ● 2.3 million children die every year due to malnutrition ● Largest single contributor to disease in the world, according...
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...GUEVARA HIGHSCHOOL IN RELATION TO THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE A Project Paper Presented to PROF. MYREL M. SANTIAGO In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Subject in Methods of Research Submitted by: Ana S. Transifiguracion Ria Marie M. Reyes Major in Technology and Livelihood Education Chapter I THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Introduction Nutrition is the result of the processes whereby the body takes in and uses food for growth, development and maintenance of health. Nutrition can also affect the body’s ability to resist disease, the length of one’s life and the state of one’s physical and mental well-being. Promoting good nutrition helps children grow, promotes human development and advances economic growth and eradication of poverty. Studies have shown that proper nutrition has a direct effect on student performance and behavior in school In many studies, cases of socioeconomic status seem to be an indicator of food insufficiency, which is simply the lack of available food to a household. Food insufficiency has been shown to directly affect children’s cognitive development. (Nutrition And Its Effects On Academic Performance How Can Our Schools Improve? By Amy Ross ) Poor nutrition on the other hand, is a chronic problem linked to poverty, poor nutrition understanding and practices, and deficient sanitation and food security. Lack of proper nutrition contributes to worse class performance, lower test scores, and eventually less...
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...Chapter I THE PROBLEM Introduction Nutritional status is a measurement of how well the nutrients in your diet are meeting the physiologic needs of your body. Health care professionals like registered dietitians, nurse and physicians are trained to review and assess many different parameters to assess a persons nutritional status. They do this through the use of medical tests and other tools that provide dietary information. Nutritional status is the balance between the intake of nutrients by an organism and the expenditure of these in the process of growth, reproduction, and health maintenance. Because this process in highly complex and quite individualized, nutritional status assessment can be directed at a wide variety of aspects of nurtures. These ranges from nutrient levels in the body, to the products of their metabolism, and to the functional processes they regulate. Nutritional status can be measured for individuals as well as for populations. http://www.answers.com/topic/assessment-of-nutritional-status#ixzz1zFO5MZFB/06-30-12 In children, growth charts have been developed to allow researches and clinicians to assess weight-and-height-for-age. For children, low height-for-age considered stunting, while low weight-for-height indicates wasting. Accurate measurement of individual nutritional status is required in clinical practice. Population measures are more important in research...
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...Fainsan, T. H. (2005). Personal attributes organizational characteristics and job stress levels of grade school teachers: their relationship to teacher performance. (Unpublished master’s thesis). Trinity College of Quezon City, Quezon City. - This study was conducted to determine the relationship between job stress and teaching performance among one hundred-fifteen (115) grade school teachers of Xavier School. Specifically, it delved on the sources of stressors in the organization such as school environment, organizational climate, organizational health, organizational communication and organizational leadership. cademic Performance of Elementary Pupils in Relation to their Nutritional Status (Free Questionnaire) I. What are the different factors that affect the academic performance of elementary pupils? This study deals with the factors that determine the school-related performance of elementary students; in particular to their health and nutritional status. The objectives of this article are relevant to the health and nutritional conditions of many school children, especially in public schools. In this same fashion, this is also related to the relationship between the academic performance of the school children and their nutritional health. All these aspects are vital in promoting a quality and effective education as well as providing the elementary pupils an equality of rights in learning. However, governments in various nations are constructing new class rooms...
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...Child, School, Home: Determinants of Academic Performance* Cecilia A. Florencio Education Research Program Center for Integrative and Development Studies University of the Philippines Email: erp@cids.upd.edu.ph This study was concerned with the determinants of school-related behavior, in particular the relationship between health and nutritional status and academic performance. Such a concern is in place whenever our educational system sets for itself the objective of reducing disparities in education and raising the overall quality and efficiency of education. Although construction of new classrooms, provision of textbooks and other learning materials and training of teachers are necessary to improve the quality of education, it is illogical to expect that these will make up for the difference in learning that could arise because of biological impediments. The objectives of the study relate to (1) nature, magnitude and distribution of health and nutritional problems of school children; (2) relationship between nutritional status and academic performance; and (3) effects on academic achievement of non-nutritional variables, specifically those recommended in the 1976 Project SOUTELE Report. Some 2,304 pupils who were randomly selected from 64 schools in Region I, IV and National Capital Region in Luzon, Region VII in the Visayas and Region XII in Mindanao participated in the study. The other respondents were the pupils’ parents, teachers...
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...TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE Title Page……………………………………………………..……………………….. i Approval Sheet ………………………………………………………………...............ii Acknowledgement …………………………………………………………………..…iii Table of Content ……………………………………………………………………….iv List of Figures ………………………………….………………………………............v List of Appendices ……………………………………………………………………..vi CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM AND IT’S SCOPE RATIONALE………………………………………………………………..2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ………………………………….. STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS …………………………………….. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY…………………………………. SCOPE AND DELIMITATION…………………………………… DEFINITION OF TERMS……………………………………….. THERITICAL FRAMEWORK……….…………………………10 – 14 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES………………………. REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES…………………………….. METHODOLOGY …………………………………...……..19 Research Design ……………….…………………………………...…....19 Research Environment…………………………………...…...19 Research Respondent ……………………………………….......20 Research Instrument ………………………………………..…...20 Sampling Technique……………………...……20 Data Gathering Procedure ………………… Statistical Treatment of Data…………………..……….…….21 Definition of Terms ………………………….……..…....22 – 23 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY ………………… Questionnaire…………………………………………………......24 - 26 CHAPTER I The Problem And Its Scope Rationale The purpose of this study is to examine relationships between nutrition and how it affects student success in school. Nutrition from food is critical for both physical and mental function...
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...Nutrition and Academic Performance 1 NUTRITION AND ITS EFFECTS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE HOW CAN OUR SCHOOLS IMPROVE? By Amy Ross SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS EDUCATION AT NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNDERSITY July 28, 2010 APPROVED BY: DATE: Derek L. Anderson, Ed.D. August 2, 2010 Nutrition and Academic Performance 2 Table of contents Abstract ...…………………………………………………………………………………………3 Chapter I: Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….…4 Statement of Problems…………………………………………………………………….8 Research Questions…………………………………………………………………….…9 Definition of Terms ……………………………….…………………………………….10 Chapter II: Review of the Literature Nutrition and Cognition ………………………..……………………………………….11 Food Insufficiency …………………………..………………………………………….24 School Food Programs ……………………………...…………………………………..35 Chapter III: Results and Analysis …………………………..…………………………………..51 Chapter IV: Recommendations and Conclusion ……………………...………………………..54 References...………………………………………………………………………………..…...59 Nutrition and Academic Performance 3 Abstract The purpose of this paper was to review existing literature about past research that highlighted studies concerning nutrition and its relationship to brain function, cognition, learning, and social behaviors. There is evidence that school breakfast and lunch programs are not up to par with current United States Department of Agriculture standards and that USDA standards may not be utilizing the latest research...
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...The Impact of Food and Nutrition on Students’ Academic Performance in Chemistry in Nigeria THE IMPACT OF FOOD AND NUTRITION ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN CHEMISTRY IN NIGERIA OGUNBOYEDE Michael Olu Department of Educational Foundations and Counselling Adeyemi College of Education E-mail: mikeboyede@yahoo.com IDOWU Funmilayo Taiwo Department of Chemistry Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo State, Nigeria ABSTRACT The Millennium Development Goal No.1 in Nigeria says that “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger away from Nigeria between, 1990 and 2015”. Hence, in the light of the above goal, this paper investigated the present influence of students’ feeding habits on their academic achievement in Chemistry in Nigeria. The study employed a survey research design and the sample for the study consisted of 3,000 students selected from ten States in Nigeria through multistage sampling technique. Data were collected through the use of a self-developed instrument titled “Students’ Feeding Habits Scale” (SFHS) and a proforma which was used to retrieve the academic performance of the selected students from records. Four hypotheses were generated for the study and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the study revealed poor feeding as one of the major factors responsible for poor students’ academic performance at school. The paper therefore, confirms that poverty and hunger is still the order of the day in Nigeria. The paper concluded with strong recommendation for the...
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...Unemployment is a major issue in today’s society. Do you know what causes unemployment? Do you know who it affects? I do, let me tell you. Unemployment effects everyone, whether it be directly or indirectly. Even if you are employed, the unemployment of people in your community can hit home. As a public relations specialist I work with people on a daily basis to try to get them the assistance they need so that they can get better jobs. There are several causes of unemployment such as recessions, disability, attitude towards employers, willingness to work, employee values, and discriminating factors in the place of work such as age, class, ethnicity, and race. All of these factors and more play a role in the unemployment in today’s society. When you see the downward spiral of joblessness if you are a business owner hire someone to help, if you have connections to great companies let someone know so that we can help decrease the unemployment rate. I hope to supply you with the causes and effects unemployment has on individuals and their families. Discriminating factors in the work place causes unemployment are very much present; it may come in many different ways. They may terminate you from your job because of your age, a lot of employers think that because you have gotten older you may not be able to perform your job as good as you did back when you where younger so they hire a younger individual to keep the work environment young and hip. Another discriminating factor...
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...mild to profound, can be caused by different factors and can have a different impact on a student’s education and adult life. (Hardman, Drew, & Egan, 2013). Professionals have found many causes for disabilities from genetic to medical. Whatever the cause of these disabilities educators must identify areas of curriculum necessary for students with severe disabilities and/or multiple disabilities. Our local school district, like many public schools, has policies and procedures and programs to ensure appropriate education for students with intellectual disabilities. The degree of a person’s intellectual disability that can be described as mild to profound and the causes of the disability can play a major role in identifying the areas of curriculum necessary for students with disabilities. Definitions, Causes and Impact According to AAIDD, intellectual disabilities is defined as “significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills.” (AAIDD, 2013) This type of disability originates before age 18 and can have many different causes. The most common causes of intellectual disabilities are genetic conditions, such as PKU or Down syndrome. Other causes are problems during pregnancy, (drinking mother or poor developing cells), problems during birth and health problems like whooping cough, measles or malnutrition. (NICHCY, 2011)...
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...The detrimental effect of malnutrition on school achievement Evidence from two districts of Madagascar Frédéric Aubery∗ October 2012 Abstract The numerous school feeding programs around the world rest on the assumption that better nutrition leads to better results at school but the relationship between nutrition and school achievement is complex and difficult to estimate. Unobservable school, parents and child’s characteristics could have an impact on both nutrition and educational outcomes, resulting in a severe endogeneity problem. Based on a large data set from Madagascar (with nearly 6000 pupils), this paper tries to estimate the causal relationship between nutrition and school achievement with the help of an instrumental variable method. Variation in the total amount of rainfall from a year to an other during the five first years of a child’s life is used as an exogenous instrument to predict the long term nutritional status. Once instrumented the effect of nutrition over test scores appears to be larger, meaning that OLS estimates of this relationship were underestimated. Keywords : Nutrition, education, school feeding program. JEL codes : I25 , O12. PhD Candidate - Centre d’Etude et de Recherche sur le Développement International (CERDI) fred.aubery@gmail.com ∗ 1 1 Introduction Despite their high intervention costs, school feeding programs are widespread accross the world. According to Galloway et al. [2009], the mean cost of a school feeding program (SFP)...
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...Chapter 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Nutrition plays an important role in the present age of scientific investigation and discovery. Recent studies and discoveries in the field of nutrition have been considered among the greatest scientific achievements because of their far reaching effects on human progress and welfare. Credit is due to those investigators in the field of nutrition who made careful and painstaking studies which have given knowledge on how best to select, combine and prepare food to promote the health and efficiency of the individual The world’s demand for food is becoming greater than ever. The current world population of 8 billion needs new innovations to meet the growing challenges of the poor and hungry world. Over nutrition, obesity, and related diseases characteristic of the developed world, is becoming serious public health problems in countries with widespread food insecurity. Children suffering from under nutrition today could well be afflicted with chronic diseases of development as adults. The economic development that has led to improved food security and better health in some countries needs to be harnessed, while at the same time incentives to avert the adverse health effects of the nutrition transition need to be taken. The potential of novel foods to alleviate under nutrition is becoming more apparent. But they are unlikely to have a role in the prevention of diseases associated with over nutrition in developing countries, which use...
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...------------------------------------------------- Overview[edit] Nutritional science investigates the metabolic and physiological responses of the body to diet. With advances in the fields of molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, the study of nutrition is increasingly concerned with metabolism and metabolic pathways: the sequences of biochemical steps through which substances in living things change from one form to another. The human body contains chemical compounds, such as water, carbohydrates (sugar, starch, and fiber), amino acids (in proteins), fatty acids (in lipids), and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). These compounds in turn consist of elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and so on. All of these chemical compounds and elements occur in various forms and combinations (e.g. hormones, vitamins, phospholipids, hydroxyapatite), both in the human body and in the plant and animal organisms that humans eat. The human body consists of elements and compounds ingested, digested, absorbed, and circulated through the bloodstream to feed the cells of the body. Except in the unborn fetus, the digestive system is the first system involved in obtaining nutrition. In a typical adult, about seven liters of digestive juices enter the digestive tract.[citation needed] These break chemical bonds in ingested molecules, and modulate their conformations and energy states. Though some molecules are absorbed into the bloodstream...
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...Essential Services Food Security in India: Performance, Challenges and Policies S. Mahendra Dev Alakh N. Sharma Oxfam India working papers series September 2010 OIWPS - VII Abstract This paper examines performance, challenges, and policies in food security in terms of availability, access, and absorption or nutrition. Specifically, the paper addresses the following questions: (i) What is the progress in supply side of food in terms of availability at the national level? (ii) How far has India progressed in attaining access to food and nutrition requirements at the household level? (iii) What are the programmes and policies that India has followed in realizing food and nutrition security? (iv) What should be done to realize food and nutrition security for all citizens of India? Food availability is a necessary condition for food security. India is more or less self sufficient in cereals but deficit in pulses and oilseeds. Due to changes in consumption patterns, demand for fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, poultry, and fisheries has been increasing. There is need to increase crop diversification and improve allied activities. It may be noted that the slowdown in agriculture growth could be attributed to structural factors on the supply side, such as public investment, credit, technology, land and water management, etc., rather than globalization and trade reforms per se. Access to food can be increased through employment due to growth in labour intensive sectors and/or...
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