It goes without saying that children’s health is a crucial component in their development. But did you know it can affect their grades?
The CDC administered the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2015 to 15,624 students through the grades of 9-12. The data was extrapolated, and in 2017, the CDC published an article showing that students who engaged in positive health related behaviors and avoided risky behaviors were more inclined to have greater academic success.
For example, those who ate breakfast on all 7 days were over two times more likely to receive mostly A’s (prevalence 45.4) as compared to mostly D’s/F’s (prevalence 18.8), and those who drank alcohol were more than two times more likely to have D’s/F’s (prevalence 51.6) than A’s (prevalence 24.3).
This shows just how important encouraging healthy behaviors is to a child’s future: when we improve the health of our children, they are given the capabilities to unlock their potential in life. This is why it is so important to tackle issues such as childhood obesity, underage alcohol and substance abuse, and lack of physical activity – not only will it block their future advancement, it will also set them up to have lifelong chronic diseases. So we as a community must increase health literacy not only for ourselves, but also for our children so they can play an active role in having a brighter future!
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