Associations between Food Group Intake, Cognition, and Academic Achievement in Elementary Schoolchildren
Abstract
:1. Introduction
Diet and Academic Achievement
2. Methods
2.1. Demographics.
2.2. Diet
2.3. Cognitive Assessments
2.4. Academic Achievement
2.5. Physical Activity
2.6. Statistical Analysis
2.6.1. Dietary Intake
2.6.2. Dietary Intake and Cognitive Outcomes
2.6.3. Dietary Intake and Academic Achievement
3. Results
3.1. Final Sample
3.2. Descriptive Statistics
3.3. Dietary Intake.
3.4. Dietary Intake and Cognitive Outcomes
3.5. Dietary Intake and Academic Achievement
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Availability of Data and Materials
References
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Entire Sample (n = 868) | MCAS Only (n = 430) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Sex, n (%) | ||||
Boys | 376 | (43.3) | 198 | (46.0) |
Girls | 492 | (56.7) | 232 | (54.0) |
Age (years), mean (sd) | 8.7 | (0.7) | 9.16 | (0.4) |
Grade, n (%) | ||||
3rd grade | 397 | (45.7) | – | – |
4th grade | 471 | (54.3) | 430 | (100) |
BMI for age Z-score, n (%) c | ||||
Underweight | 10 | (1.2) | 5 | (1.2) |
Healthy weight | 506 | (58.3) | 244 | (56.7) |
Overweight | 166 | (19.1) | 95 | (22.1) |
Obese | 186 | (21.4) | 86 | (20.0) |
Race/ethnicity, n (%) | ||||
Non-Hispanic white | 288 | (33.2) | 158 | (36.7) |
Non-Hispanic black | 72 | (8.3) | 30 | (7.0) |
Hispanic | 227 | (26.2) | 113 | (26.3) |
Multiracial/Asian/American Indian/other | 148 | (17.1) | 59 | (13.7) |
Declined to respond | 133 | (15.3) | 70 | (16.3) |
English language learner, n (%) d | – | – | 92 | (21.4) |
Maternal education, n (%) | ||||
High school degree or less | 292 | (33.6) | 133 | (30.9) |
Some college or associate degree | 238 | (27.4) | 128 | (29.8) |
Bachelor’s degree or above | 261 | (30.1) | 129 | (30.0) |
Declined to respond | 77 | (8.9) | 40 | (9.3) |
Paternal education, n (%) | ||||
High school degree or less | 374 | (43.1) | 168 | (39.1) |
Some college or associate degree | 180 | (20.7) | 95 | (22.1) |
Bachelor’s degree or above | 206 | (23.7) | 108 | (25.1) |
Declined to respond | 108 | (12.4) | 59 | (13.7) |
Cognitive and academic test scores | ||||
Digit Span forwards, mean (sd) | 4.7 | (1.1) | 4.8 | (1.1) |
Digit Span backwards, mean (sd) | 2.8 | (1.0) | 2.9 | (1.0) |
Stroop ratio, mean (sd) e | 0.4 | (0.1) | 0.4 | (0.1) |
MCAS mathematics score, n (%) | ||||
Warning | – | – | 45 | (10.5) |
Needs improvement | – | – | 80 | (18.6) |
Proficient | – | – | 164 | (38.1) |
Advanced | – | – | 141 | (32.8) |
MCAS English score, n (%) | ||||
Warning | – | – | 24 | (5.6) |
Needs improvement | – | – | 156 | (36.3) |
Proficient | – | – | 197 | (45.8) |
Advanced | – | – | 53 | (12.3) |
Healthful Foods | Mean | SD |
---|---|---|
Fruits | 1.9 | 1.7 |
Vegetables | 1.4 | 1.3 |
Non-sugar-sweetened beverages (total) | 2.6 | 1.1 |
Water | 1.2 | 0.5 |
Milk | 1.0 | 0.8 |
Fruit juice | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Less healthful foods | ||
Sweet snacks | 1.6 | 1.7 |
Salty snacks | 1.4 | 1.4 |
Sweetened beverages (total) | 0.8 | 0.8 |
Soft drinks | 0.3 | 0.5 |
Energy drinks | 0.2 | 0.3 |
Flavored juice drinks | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Digit Span Forwards a | Digit Span Backwards a | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dietary Intake | RR | p-Value | 95% CI | RR | p-Value | 95% CI |
Healthful foods b | 1.001 | 0.821 | 0.991, 1.011 | 0.997 | 0.707 | 0.984, 1.011 |
Less healthful foods c | 0.993 | 0.159 | 0.982, 1.003 | 0.988 | 0.087 | 0.975, 1.002 |
Individual food group intake | ||||||
Fruits | 1.001 | 0.884 | 0.978, 1.026 | 0.985 | 0.348 | 0.953, 1.017 |
Vegetables | 1.001 | 0.928 | 0.973, 1.031 | 1.018 | 0.353 | 0.980, 1.057 |
Salty snacks | 0.998 | 0.912 | 0.968, 1.030 | 0.984 | 0.043 | 0.944, 1.025 |
Sweet snacks | 0.988 | 0.354 | 0.964, 1.013 | 0.997 | 0.873 | 0.965, 1.031 |
Non-sugar-sweetened beverages d | 0.999 | 0.948 | 0.969, 1.030 | 0.993 | 0.718 | 0.954, 1.033 |
Sugar-sweetened beverages e | 0.994 | 0.802 | 0.949, 1.040 | 0.979 | 0.488 | 0.921, 1.040 |
Adjusted Model b | |||
---|---|---|---|
Dietary Intake | β | p-Value | 95% CI |
Healthful foods c | 0.000 | 0.665 | −0.004, 0.002 |
Less healthful foods d | 0.000 | 0.941 | −0.003, 0.003 |
Individual food group intake | |||
Fruits | −0.007 | 0.084 | −0.014, 0.001 |
Vegetables | 0.005 | 0.234 | −0.003, 0.014 |
Salty snacks | 0.009 | 0.060 | −0.001, 0.018 |
Sweet snacks | −0.002 | 0.526 | −0.001, 0.005 |
Non-sugar-sweetened beverages e | 0.003 | 0.221 | −0.006, 0.012 |
Sugar-sweetened beverages f | −0.008 | 0.221 | −0.022, 0.004 |
Mathematics Score a | English Language Arts Score b | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dietary Intake | OR | p-Value | 95% CI | OR | p-Value | 95% CI |
Healthful foods c | 0.976 | 0.531 | 0.905, 1.053 | 0.959 | 0.295 | 0.886, 1.038 |
Less healthful foods d | 0.905 | 0.014 | 0.836, 0.980 | 0.868 | 0.001 | 0.798, 0.943 |
Individual food group intake | ||||||
Fruits | 0.935 | 0.457 | 0.782, 1.117 | 0.748 | 0.003 | 0.618, 0.906 |
Vegetables | 0.941 | 0.511 | 0.783, 1.130 | 1.104 | 0.333 | 0.904, 1.347 |
Salty snacks | 1.001 | 0.990 | 0.794, 1.263 | 1.142 | 0.292 | 0.892, 1.460 |
Sweet snacks | 0.848 | 0.082 | 0.704. 1.021 | 0.720 | 0.001 | 0.591, 0.876 |
Non-sugar-sweetened beverages e | 1.105 | 0.354 | 0.894, 1.366 | 1.152 | 0.204 | 0.926, 1.433 |
Sugar-sweetened beverages f | 0.865 | 0.408 | 0.614, 1.219 | 0.978 | 0.902 | 0.690, 1.387 |
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Bleiweiss-Sande, R.; Chui, K.; Wright, C.; Amin, S.; Anzman-Frasca, S.; Sacheck, J.M. Associations between Food Group Intake, Cognition, and Academic Achievement in Elementary Schoolchildren. Nutrients 2019, 11, 2722. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11112722
Bleiweiss-Sande R, Chui K, Wright C, Amin S, Anzman-Frasca S, Sacheck JM. Associations between Food Group Intake, Cognition, and Academic Achievement in Elementary Schoolchildren. Nutrients. 2019; 11(11):2722. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11112722
Chicago/Turabian StyleBleiweiss-Sande, Rachel, Kenneth Chui, Catherine Wright, Sarah Amin, Stephanie Anzman-Frasca, and Jennifer M. Sacheck. 2019. "Associations between Food Group Intake, Cognition, and Academic Achievement in Elementary Schoolchildren" Nutrients 11, no. 11: 2722. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11112722