The effects of unhealthy foods on children and their education

The research will bridge the gap of insufficient information on unhealthy feeding and enable researcher find ground on which they can lay education and nutritional policies to improve academics. The research utilized the implicit theory of intelligence to assess whether from a psychological perspective the beliefs and uptake of educational concepts can change because of the feeding habits of the schooling population. Further, it uses qualitative research design as a method to baseline a relationship between unhealthy eating practices and decreased academic performance. The findings indicated that unhealthy eating habits have a causative effect to poor academic performance. Unhealthy food is a major contributor to lack of attentiveness, causes fatigue, and mood interferences among other attributes that hinder an individual in their educational journey.

According to Elias et al. (2011) the modern world is experiencing a number of lifestyle changes, which collectively are causing a decline in academic performance. The most affected aspect of the modern world is the kind of food that is eaten. As the population continues to grow, the world’s food sources are further strained and more people than ever before are beginning to consume unhealthy food such as fast foods due to its availability and affordable price (Saunders et al. There is no doubt that consumption of too much fast food has become a health disaster and thus a factor affecting the development of a child both intellectually and physically. Earlier, the U. S. government made an update to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs requesting schools to make a change in the meals they offered to children.

Nevertheless, the main aim of these changes was closely associated with the health of the children more than the effect of the food on their performance. This could have been attributed to less literature highlighting the direct correlation between academic performances and eating behaviors. In another study conducted by, unhealthy eating leads to a number of lifestyle diseases which then psychologically affect children and make it difficult for them to learn in school (Sahoo et al. Today, many schools are underperforming. This has forced educators to research and develop theories that attempt to explain the low performance in terms of cognitive abilities and social behavior. Several factors are suspected of being the cause of poor academic performance among children. One of the elements is poor nutrition (Ross & Anderson, 2010).

For this reason this research will try to find how the intake of non-nutritious foods among school going children is a major contribution to poor academic performance in schools. Purpose of the Study Multiple articles published in peer-reviewed journals have highlighted how unhealthy eating practices result in lifestyle diseases. Diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular complications and diabetes have strongly been associated with poor diet and unhealthy lifestyles (Sahoo et al. However, in recent times, few studies have majored on the relationship between academic performance and poor eating practices especially among school going children. This paper, therefore, seeks to provide more insight into how poor nutrition affects cognitive abilities, social behavior, and academic performance in school going children. This study will also be helpful in helping the government to properly plan the nutritional guidelines for school going children and to promote healthy eating in American households.

This study also seeks to promote responsible reimbursement by the government to those schools that only adhere to the stipulated nutritional guidelines. Also, the findings will add contemporary knowledge of the effects of nutrition guidelines. Moreover, the findings will add contemporary knowledge on the effects of nutrition on academic performance and behavior, particularly among children (Chinyoka, 2014). However, the study will embrace consciousness of ethical considerations by ensuring that the respondents or subjects’ information remains confidential and that none of them undergoes a dangerous lab test to determine effects of poor nutrition; a test that might compromise their biological composition. Since confidentiality is of great concern for this research, no respondent will be required to incorporate their private details, which may reveal their identity.

This is also aimed at ensuring that respondents remain honest without fear of being victimized. Additionally, the study will analyze documents that are related to the subject matter. Such documents shall be peer-reviewed and up to date journals will be obtained from peer-reviewed journal databases to make important contributions. In this process, data will be transcribed, examined and analyzed. Schools have a greater role to play in supporting nutritional research and training students on the best dietary practices to engage in. They help the students make the right choices on the matters to do with health. Lot of pressure has been put on schools to ensure that they provide paper diets to students in cafeterias. A lot effort has to be put on schools to ensure that their students portray high academic prowess in as they pursue proper dietary habits.

Nutrition should be given much priority and a lot of attention so as to make sure great academic achievement is reached. Overall, it shall be a buildup on the body of knowledge. Theoretical Orientation for the Study According to the implicit theory of intelligence, there are fundamentals beliefs regarding whether or nonacademic intelligence abilities. Some believe that it can developed or changed by certain factors (Trzaskowski et al. Individuals who perceive intelligence as a fixed unchanging attribute conform to the entity theory while those who believe that intelligence is something that is Malleable and prone to development when exposed to certain factors are classified as incremental (Rattan et al. This research paper argues that intelligence specially that which is linked to academic performance can be developed with effort through learning goals, healthy food selection, as well as choosing challenging task among others.

The specific behavioral attribute by insufficient food intake includes, attentiveness and mood. During the study, it was noted for instance, that children with malnutrition are more likely to depict aggressive behaviors and this end up lacking attentiveness skills in the class to study (Brown, 2012). As children progress in their academic studies, their academic process reduces drastically because they consume non- nutritious food. Clark and Fox (2009), Erikson (2016), Yee (2012) described vitamins and minerals as important components that guarantee the proper functioning of the human brain. The most relevant of this category are Vitamin A, C, E, and B. Joseph et al. used questionnaires to determine how children were likely to select healthier snacks. Parents make choices on the food their children are supposed to eat or take with them to school.

According to Lwin et al. (2017) a study of 1119 children of ages between 9 and 12 years diversity and individual differences of the participants did not get violated. The lacks of proteins leads to a condition, which is known as protein-energy malnutrition, which causes poor academic performance among students (Erickson, 2016). Carbohydrates are majorly found in carbohydrates and vegetables. They are metabolized into sugar, which gives the brain the energy to continue functioning properly. Lack of carbohydrates in the body may cause a student to be tired and lack concentration. Taking in carbohydrates energizes and improves the mood of an individual. This can be explained through the findings that food contains minerals and nutrients such as proteins, which play an essential role in the general functioning of the brain.

Students with a deficiency in iron mineral tend to perform poorly in math because iron seeks to alter the function of the brain. This research has been instrumental in correlating poor nutrition and dietary habits, to a continued decrease in academic excellence among school-going children. As such it can be categorically claimed that poor nutrition is the root cause of poor academic performance among children (Alaimo et al. , 2018) Critique of Previous Research Methods The research methods and techniques used in this study included interviews, surveys and use of questionnaires. This is because such non-nutritious foods cause a deficiency of the necessary minerals, which aid in brain development. Additionally, unhealthy eating is linked to different diseases and conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and atherosclerosis among others.

In cases where children are diagnosed with conditions such as diabetes, the result is that it may affect the child’s psychological wellbeing resulting in low self-esteem thus increased rate of absenteeism from school hence deteriorating performance. Additionally, some diseases also cause complications that interfere with one’s concentration in school or class activities thus jeopardizing the student’s concentration levels. As an intervention, various researches have suggested that dietary behaviors affect the mental process in a way. In recent times, few studies have majored on the relationship between academic performance and the type of diet taken by school-going children. The purpose of this research is to research on the correlation between unhealthy foods and decreased academic performance in children. The findings of the study are crucial in the formulation of proper dietary plans concerning brain development and academic performance in children.

Research Question 1. Is there a link between consumption of unhealthy foods and the educational performance of school going children and are there possible remedies that individuals and schools can adopt to address this problem and reverse decreased academic performance caused by consumption of unhealthy foods? Target Population The target population for this research is the King’s School population. This research also made use of questioners and interviews while interviewing children in the lower grades. Interview questions, both closed and open-ended were sent to the targeted population using an online generated survey monkey link. No respondent will be required to incorporate their private details, which may result in their identification. The research focused on several relevant questions that surround poor performance concerning poor habits to study how the two are related.

Recruitment strategy The preferable technique of choice for recruiting participants was the purposive sampling technique. The final step will be checking whether the information that was collected on the unhealthy foods in the King’s School was nutritious. This was verified by carrying out research conduction interviews with the head of the kitchen department at school and the student themselves. This helped in ensuring that the information or data gathered is authentic and true. Risks expected Since the target population for this study is a multiracial diverse representation of the society, collecting information might be interpreted as racial profiling. Some participants may not feel comfortable to revealing information about the type of foods they eat and their academic performance and this is a major threat and risk to the success of my study.

This was aimed at adding credibility and reliability to the findings. Ethical Considerations and Standards of Psychology This study shall be conducted according to the guidelines laid done in the declaration procedures. Study participant’s confidentiality and privacy agreements were observed. The University’s Ethics Committee handbook was also followed. Where necessary, consent was obtained from parents and guardians and the study subjects. Brown found out that behavioral conduct affects mental behavior, which in turn affects academic performance. As children progress in their academic studies, their academic process reduces drastically because they get exposed to unhealthy foods. Clark & Fox (2015), Finkelstein (2018), Hill (2014), and Joseph et al. (2015) focused on the effects of nutrition on children's education. Clark and Fox sampled 2,314 children in 287 public schools from grades 1 through 12.

(Erickson, 2016). Poverty in the Latino Townships and other households where parents’ incomes were low contributed to those households feeding on unhealthy foods. This response and finding from the participants tallied with Brown’s findings. Brown argued that children that were poorly fed experienced psychological distress that resulted in interference in their studies (Brown, 2012). Brown just like the findings of this research posits that underfed and poorly fed children are much more probable to underperform in their studies and to drop out of school. The literature also indicated that poor nutrition among children manifests because of low incomes and poverty (Brown, 2012; Finkelstein et al. Medical and psychological issues have been closely linked to social economic conditions (CDC, 2014). Schools need to offer appealing foods which have good taste to discourage students from going for the unhealthy food and beverages.

The school food program plays a very important role in determining the type of food consumed. Proper diet is essential to students for brain development and growth. Suggestions for Future Research Even though the area of unhealthy eating practices and lifestyle diseases have been explored, there are limited researches directly written on how unhealthy eating practices are linked to decreased academic prowess. Future research should focus accessing further the extent of unhealthy eating practices, nutrition and academic prowess. References Alaimo, K. , Olson, C. , Frongillo, E. cdc. gov/growthcharts/cdc_charts. htm Chinyoka, K. Impact of Poor Nutrition on the Academic Performance of Grade Seven learners: A Case of Zimbabwe. International Journal of Learning and Development, 4(3), 73. Brain food: the real dish on nutrition and brain function.