Research Guide

1. Food Nutritional Intake
and Academic
Performance of Students

2. CHAPTER 1
The Problem and Its Setting

3. Background of the Study
 Poor nutrition, obesity, and hunger are among issues that
young people encounter when it comes to food. Nutrition is a
critical component of human life, health, and development
throughout the lifespan. Proper diet and nutrition are vital for
survival, physical growth, mental development, performance
and productivity, health, and well-being from the earliest
stages of fetal development to birth, adulthood, and old life
(FAO/WHO, 1992, WHO 2000). More so, nutrition has an
indirect effect on academic achievement. Poor nutrition can
make students sick or cause headaches and stomachaches,
resulting in missed school days (Rotimi, 2012).

4. Background of the Study
 Chinyoka (2014) also discovered that hungry and
undernourished students are unable to take physical
work and sports seriously, are less likely to attend
school, and, if they do, are less able to concentrate and
learn. Nutritional gardens should be introduced at the
community, school, and family levels in the future. It is
critical to address the core causes of malnutrition (such
as food insecurity, poverty, population expansion, and
socio-economic instability) in order to achieve long-
term malnutrition reductions.

5. Background of the Study
 Based on the estimated r value, which was smaller than the
tabular value of 0.349 at a 5% level of significance, Beredo
(2019) found a minor negative connection between weight and
academic performance. Because the obtained chi-square value
was less than the tabular value of 9.488 at a 5% level of
significance, the chi-square value between nutritional status and
academic performance was deemed to be inconsequential. As a
result, the researcher suggests that the School-Based Feeding
Program be continued and strengthened. Furthermore,
encouraging active participation of parents, communities, and
local government in the implementation of increased school
nutrition practices is advocated.

6. Background of the Study
This necessitates the researcher to further
investigate the relationship between the
food nutritional intake and academic
performance of students.

7. Statement of the Problem
 The study Food Nutritional Intake and Academic
Performance of Students aims to identify the relationship of
the food intake of students and their academic performance.
The following are the research questions that needs to be
investigated.
 1. What are the profiles of the student base on:
 1.1 Age;
 1.2 Weight;
 1.3 Nutritional Status (based on BMI); and
 1.4 Socioeconomic Status

8. Statement of the Problem
 2. What is the academic performance of students base on:
 2.1 Grades;
 2.2 Behaviour; and
 2.3 Learning Comprehension
 3. Is there a significant relationship between food nutritional
intake and the academic performance of students?
 4. What intervention can be proposed to improve the
nutritional status and enhance the academic performance of
the students?

9. Hypothesis
Ho – There is no significant
relationship between the food
nutritional intake and the academic
performance of students.

10. Review of Related Literature
 In this chapter, the researchers will discuss the related
literature and studies of the major variables and the minor
variables, as well as the theories that will be used to further
understand this research. The conceptual framework,
conceptual paradigm and the definition of terms are as well,
discussed within this chapter. The following related literature
and studies used in this study are compiled and are
reviewed. This aims to provide additional information and
understanding about the study.

11. Food Nutritional Intake
 According to the EFA Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO
2011), more than a quarter of children under the age of
fifteen are underweight as a result of poor diet and
malnutrition, making them more susceptible to sickness and
less able to focus at school. Malnutrition is a chronic disorder
that results from the over- or under-consumption of one or
more important macro- or micronutrients in relation to the
individual's physiological and pathological requirements
(Ecker and Nene 2012).

12. Food Nutritional Intake
 Body Mass Index
 The BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms
by the square of their height in meters. BMI is a simple and
economical way of determining weight categories such as
underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and obesity. Although
BMI does not directly measure body fat, it is marginally
associated with more direct measures. In addition, BMI appears
to be just as closely linked to many metabolic and illness
outcomes as these more direct measures of body fatness
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

13. Academic Performance
 Academic performance is a way to measure a student’s
achievement in different academic subjects and is measured
by either the teacher or other education officials by assessing
the factors such as classroom performance, graduation rates,
and results from standardized tests (Balotpedia, 2019). It
started in 1830, when Horace Mann and Samuel Gridley
Howe, the education advocates, measured the progress of
the students in Boston using a standardized test. Many
professors and education advocates have adopted and
improved this strategy, which has led to today’s generation
that has numerous tests and ways to measure academic
performance.

14. Academic Performance
 Grades
 Grade was defined as the way of rating quality, worth, rank, or
order of things; even simply how well an individual performed
(Your Dictionary, 2014). It was usually represented by numerical
values and follows certain set of rules called grading systems.
According to Reddy (2019), grading system was use to assess
educational performance of a student that is based merely on
points. The author bravely stated that grading systems does not
enable students to think outside of the box, in a way it becomes a
hindrance for the students to think freely in its widest ranges. On
the other hand, many countries have been using grading systems
for it promised strong and based on input grades.

15. Academic Performance
 Behaviour
 Behavior was defined to be an individual or group of individual’s
response to action, environment, person or stimulus (Business
Dictionary, 2019). It is a way which one individual act or conducts
his or herself, with or without the presence of other people
(Google Dictionary, 2019). In this study it was an indicator under
academic performance that is seen to be influenced by eustress.
As knowing that behavior is the response of an individual to
different stimulus, it was associated with academic performance
because the response of a student from the inputs of information
given by the educators or teacher is the seen as behavior.

16. Academic Performance
 Learning Comprehension
 Learning Comprehension is the ability to understand completely and
be familiar with the situation, facts, and etc. (Cambridge Dictionary,
2019). It is the ability of an individual to decode the meaning behind
text, visual images, spoken words, and any media. In learning,
comprehension is much needed; schools tend to guide and monitor
the students’ comprehension through assessments and tests. Even
periodically given examinations composed of questions that requires
comprehension. It was a skill that schools aims to hone, for it will
soon develop into having the skills in critical thinking that makes an
individual fully equip. Comprehension is also defined as the correct
association of meaning towards certain word symbols, and the ability
to grasp the whole idea from combined details of information
(Psychology Discussion, 2019).

17. Review of Related Literature
The aforementioned variables and their specific
indicators are needed to fully investigate the
relationship between food nutritional intake and
academic performance of students. The Literatures
and Related Studies obtained will aid the
researchers in strengthening their claim in the later
part of this paper.

18. Theoretical Framework
 The foundation of this research is Abraham Maslow's theory
of needs. Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs hypothesis,
with fundamental needs at the bottom and higher
requirements at the top (physiological, safety, love, esteem,
cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualisation and transcendence
needs). The deficiency needs, or d-needs, are found in the
first four tiers of Maslow's pyramid; if they are met, the
individual does not feel anything, but if they are not met, the
individual feels worried (Snowman & Biehler 2011:79).
Growth needs, also known as being needs or B-needs, are
needs that go beyond the D-needs.

19. Theoretical Framework
 They do not dissipate once they have been satisfied; rather,
they become more motivated. Mwamwenda (2010) proposed
a need hierarchy based on two categories: physiological and
psychological requirements. Maslow's hypothesis is based
on the idea that people try to satisfy their wants in a logical
order, starting with the most fundamental physiological
demands and working their way up the hierarchy. He thought
that higher-level needs could only be met if lower-level
requirements were met first. A hungry youngster, for
example, is unlikely to be driven to self-actualize until her
hunger is met.

20. Figure 1.1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

21. Conceptual Framework
PREDICTOR
Profiles of the student base
on:
1.1 Age;
1.2 Weight;
1.3 Nutritional
Status (based on
BMI); and
1.4 Socioeconomic
Status
CRITERION
Academic performance of
students base on:
2.1 Grades;
2.2 Behaviour; and
2.3 Learning
Comprehension
Figure 1.2. Relationship of Food Nutritional Intake and Academic
Performance of Students

22. Conceptual Framework
Figure 1.2 shows the relationship between food
nutritional intake and academic performance of
students. Both datas will be gathered in terms of:
For the predictor, Age; Weight; Nutritional Status
(BMI); and socioeconomic status. As for the
criterion, Grades; Behaviour; and Learning
Comprehension.

23. Significance of the Study
 This study will be beneficial to the following:
 Students. The analyzed data will be beneficial for them to
know how proper nutrition can affect their academic
performance. This will promote balanced diet among young
individuals.
 School. As they will be able to incorporate their students
academic performance to their nutritional status and could
take action in promoting proper nutrition.

24. Significance of the Study
Researchers. The results will be beneficial
for researches as this will contain additional
data for their future study about food
nutrition. Thus, serving a basis for
fundamental researches.

25. Definition of Terms
 The following terms are used in the study with their
corresponding definitions:
 Nutrition. the process of providing or obtaining the food
necessary for health and growth (Oxford Languages).
 Body Mass Index. Is a simple and economical way of
determining weight categories such as underweight, healthy
weight, overweight, and obesity (CDC).
 Academic Performance. A way to measure a student’s
achievement in different academic subjects and is measured
by either the teacher or other education officials by assessing
the factors such as classroom performance, graduation rates,
and results from standardized tests (Balotpedia, 2019).

26. References
 Balotpedia. (2019). Academic Performance. Retrieved from:
https://ballotpedia.org/Academic_performance
 Beredo. 2019. Nutritional Status and Its Impact on Academic Performance of Selected Grade 8 Students.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1254/1/012013
 Cambridge Dictionary. (2019). Comprehension. Retrieved from
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/comprehension
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/index.html
 Chinyoka. (2014). Impact of Poor Nutrition on the Academic Performance of Grade Seven learners: A Case of
Zimbabwe. International Journal of Learning and Development. 4. 73. 10.5296/ijld.v4i3.6169.
 Ecker and Nene. 2012. Nutrition policies in developing countries: Challenges and highlights. Policy Note 1.
Washington DC, International Food Policy Research Institute. Fanzo, J. 2012. The nutrition challenge in Sub-
Saharan Africa. Human Development Report: UNDP.
 Psychology Discussion. (2019). Comprehension: Meaning and Types / Psychology. Retrieved
from http://www.psychologydiscussion.net/ social-psychology-2/language/comprehension-meaning-
and-types-psych ology/1394
 Reddy, F. (2019) Roles of Grades in Motivating Students to Learn. Journal of Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences. Vol. 4 No. 2
 Rotimi, 2012, The Effects of Nutrition on Student’s Academic Performance among Secondary Schools
Student's in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, Munich, GRIN Verlag, Retrieved from
https://www.grin.com/document/493702