Document Type : Short Communication
Authors
1 Infertility and Health Reproductive Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
2 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute,Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran
3 Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Universally, the number of students attending the university education is high and increasing. The future of academic graduates is affected by their academic achievement. The purpose of the research was to assess the correlation among academic achievement and healthy lifestyle behaviors in university students.
Methods: This cross-sectional research was conducted on 262 university students studying in the selected faculties of Babol University of Medical Sciences based on multi stage sampling technique. The students were categorized to low and high academic achievement groups according to grade point average (GPA) score at the end of the semesters. The health-promoting lifestyle profile with six domains was applied to determine healthy lifestyle behaviors. To investigate the adjusted correlation
among the health promoting lifestyle’s domains and academic achievement, the multi-variable logistic regression was used.
Results: The average age of the university students was 21.36 ± 2.28 years. According to the results, some domains of healthy lifestyle behaviors between the low and the high academic
achievement groups were different significantly. The results demonstrated that the spiritual growth (the only domain of healthy lifestyle behaviors) (P=0.002) and living situation (P=0.043) were
significant factors affecting academic achievement.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that the public health and education professionals should try to improve the students’ academic achievement through holding periodic training workshops to promote the their spiritual growth and also consider more quotas for native students to the universities.
Keywords
MJ. Associations between Dietary Intake and
Academic Achievement in College Students: A
Systematic Review. Healthcare. 2017;5(4):60.
2. Sadeghi Bahmani D, Faraji P, Faraji R, Lang UE,
Holsboer-Trachsler E, Brand S. Is emotional
functioning related to academic achievement among
university students? Results from a cross-sectional
Iranian sample. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria.
2018;40(3):290-5.
3. Bru¨ne M. Textbook of evolutionary psychiatry
and psychosomatic medicine. The origins of
psychopathology. Oxford: Oxford University; 2015.
4. Heidari M, Borjian Borujeni M, Ghodusi Borujeni M,
Shirvani M. Relationship of Lifestyle with Academic
Achievement in Nursing Students. J Clin Diagn Res.
2017;11(3):JC01-JC03.
5. Peker K, Bermek G. Predictors of Health-Promoting
Behaviors among Freshman Dental Students at Istanbul
University. J Dent Educ. 2011;75(3):413-20.
6. Bakouei F, Jalil Seyedi-Andi S, Bakhtiari A, Khafri S.
Health Promotion Behaviors and Its Predictors Among
the College Students in Iran. Int Q Community Health
Educ. 2018;38(4):251-8.
7. Riemenschneider H, Balázs P, Balogh E, Bartels
A, Bergmann A, Cseh K, et al. Do sociocultural
factors influence medicalstudents’ health
status and healthpromotingbehaviors? A crosssectionalmulticenter
study in Germany and Hungary.
BMC Public Health. 2016;16:576.
8. Wang D, Ou CQ, Chen MY, Duan N. Health-promoting
lifestyles of university students in Mainland China.
BMC Public Health. 2009; 9:379.
9. Faught EL, Gleddie D, Storey KE, Davison CM,
Veugelers PJ. Healthy lifestyle behaviours are
positively and independently associated with academic
achievement: An analysis of self-reported data from
a nationally representative sample of Canadian early
adolescents. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(7):e0181938.
10. Rasberry CN, Tiu GF, Kann L, McManus T, Michael
SL, Merlo CL, et al. Health-Related Behaviors and
Academic Achievement Among High School Students
— United States, 2015. Morbidity and Mortality
Weekly Report. 2017;66(35):921–7.
11. Lambourne K, Hansen DM, Szabo AN, Lee J,
Herrmann SD, Donnelly JE. Indirect and direct
relations between aerobic fitness, physical activity, and
academic achievement in elementary school students.
Ment Health Phys Act. 2013;6(3):165–71.
12. Desai IK, Kurpad AV, Chomitz VR, Thomas T.
Aerobic Fitness, Micronutrient Status, and Academic
Achievement in Indian School- Aged Children. PLoS
One. 2015;10(3):e0122487.
13. Bradley BJ, Greene AC. Do health and education
agencies in the United States share responsibility for
academic achievement and health? A review of 25
years of evidence about the relationship of adolescents’
academic achievement and health behaviors. J Adolesc
Health. 2013;52(5):523-32.
14. Mirghafourvand M, Baheiraei A, Nedjat S,
Mohammadi E, Charandabi SM, Majdzadeh R. A
population-based study of health-promoting behaviors
and their predictors in Iranian women of reproductive
age. Health Promot Int. 2015;30(3):586-94.
15. Singh A, Uijtdewilligen L, Twisk JWR, van Mechelen
W, Chinapaw MJM. Physical activity and performance
at school: a systematic review of the literature
including a methodological quality assessment. Arch
PediatrAdolesc Med. 2012;166:49-55.
16. Donnelly JE, Hillman CH, Castelli D, Etnier JL, Lee
S, Tomporowski P, et al. Physical Activity, Fitness,
Cognitive Function, and Academic Achievement in
Children: A Systematic Review. Med Sci Sports Exerc.
2016;48(6):1197-222.
17. Akin A, Akin U. Does Self-Compassion Predict
Spiritual Experiences of Turkish University Students?
J Relig Health. 2017;56(1):109–17.
18. Bakouei S, Bakouei F, Ahmari Tehran H, Raisi M,
Dehghani H. Self-reported health and health-promoting
behaviors in women of reproductive age. J Babol Univ
Med Sci. 2017; 19(3):29–37.
19. Sadeghi Bahmani D, Faraji P, Faraji R, Lang UE,
Holsboer-Trachsler E, Brand S. Is emotional
functioning related to academic achievement among
university students? Results from a cross-sectional
Iranian sample. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2018;40(3):290-5.
20. Hasanshahi M, Mazaheri MA. The Effects of Education
on Spirituality through Virtual Social Media on the
Spiritual WellBeing of the Public Health Students of
Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2015. Int J
Community Based Nurs Midwifery. 2016;4(2):168-75.
21. Rafii G. The role of prayer on physical health. Qom
Univ Med Sci J. 2011;5(3):66-73.