Title

NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND ITS IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF NURSING STUDENTS

Author(s)

KASEY MELANDRA B. LACHARON

Affiliation

KYLA A. LAGATA

REA CARMELLIE A. LORENTON

JANN RORY A. MACALISANG

ERIC JOHN MERIALES

REELGEM SETH NERCUA

Degree Program

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Contributor

Chia, Athina Karla A.

Ocapan, Jesus Jr., G.

Santos, Susan N.

Robles, Chona J.

Year

2024

Abstract

Human nutrition is essential in maintaining life, and it is a strong determinant not only for healthy lifestyles but for human health that has strong positive and promoting effects that help in the prevention of acquiring several diseases and improve the body functions such as the brain or the cognitive function. Most studies merely focus on the nutrition and academics of primary and secondary students. The goal of this study is to determine the impact of nutritional status (health condition, eating habits, and body mass index) on the academic performance of nursing students. This study was done on school grounds using a modified questionnaire and a convenient sample method with the participation of nursing students from one of the higher education institutions in Misamis Occidental as its respondents. Likert scale was provided to the questionnaire to categorize each response. Frequency, percentage, weighted mean, Likert scale, and Pearson correlation coefficient were the tools used in analyzing the data sample. The results showed that nursing students generally have good health conditions and eating habits, with some malnourished students exceeding normal weight while the majority are within normal range. Nursing students generally achieve passing grades, with a small percentage on probation. The data shows a significant correlation between nutritional status in terms of health condition and academic performance; however, no significant correlation was found between nutritional status in terms of eating habits and body mass index towards academic performance. In addition, teachers should conduct awareness campaigns on health conditions and encourage students to stay healthy. Also, teachers encourage their students to have follow-up checkups to monitor for any health conditions. Future studies must also be conducted in larger groups to determine if the same findings will be established. With the use of the interpreted data, the nursing students' nutritional status in terms of health condition, body mass index, and eating habits are Good, which indicates that students are Healthy. On the other hand, data showed that only nutritional status in terms of health condition shows a significant contribution or relation to a nursing student's level of academic performance.

Keywords

body mass index, eating habits, general weighted average, health condition, nursing students