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Abstract
Food and nutrition are crucial for academic success among public university students. This study was carried out in order to determine the relationship between nutrition, diet, and academic performance for residential and nonresidential students. A cross-sectional survey collected comprehensive data from university students, including socio-demographics, health history, dietary habits, physical activity, academic performance, and extracurricular involvement. The diverse sample included students from various academic levels and housing situations, exploring factors like age, gender, family background, health, diet, exercise, and academic achievement. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Out of the 400 university students, half were residential and half were non-residential, mostly having mixed diets. Notably, 72.5% of residential and 67% of non-residential students fall within the healthy BMI range of 18.5-24.9. Various dietary patterns and habits, like fried rice, boiled rice, sweetened drink consumption, breakfast, and protein-rich food intake, are correlated with academic performance (p<0.05). Additionally, more than half of both residential (69%) and non-residential (64%) students have regular breakfast and lunch. Residential students tend to attend classes more often (p<0.05) and exhibit a higher sense of self-perceived excellence. Socio-demographic factors have a limited impact on academic performance, as both student types have generally healthy diets with weak correlations between diet, BMI, and academic success. Lifestyle and personal traits are more influential. Promoting balanced diets and health awareness is essential for student well-being. The relationships between food, nutrition and academic achievement are not entirely significant. Other lifestyle-related aspects could also be taken into account.
Keywords: Nutritional status, dietary patterns, academic performance, university students, Bangladesh
Introduction
University students often face numerous challenges that can impact their academic performance, and nutrition is one such aspect that warrants investigation. Parents and students are always worried about their children's academic performance, in part because it has a direct impact on their ability to get into university and their employment prospects. It is well recognized that socio-economic conditions such as parent's education, job, and economic status influence how well students do in school (1-4). There has not been much research on the connection between students' eating habits and academic achievement. There is some evidence that dietary habits and food insufficiency are related to academic performance in ways other than socioeconomic status (5).
Together, adolescence and early adulthood...
