The Journal of Education and Health Science
Online ISSN : 2434-9127
Print ISSN : 0285-0990
Relationship between Childhood Obesity and Academic Ability: Focusing on the Difference between Obese and Normal Children
Kenta OTSUBOKosho KASUGATakahiro NAKANOKenji KOBASEHinano SUGIURA
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JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS

2020 Volume 66 Issue 2 Pages 121-129

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the academic difference due to the evaluation of the integrated type difference based on the degree of obesity. The subjects were 1269 elementary school 6th graders (648 boys and 621 girls) and 988 middle school 3rd graders (511 boys and 477 girls). The degree of obesity was calculated based on the standard weight for the subject’s sex, age, and height. We examined the difference in the average number of correct answers in the national school achievement test based on the degree of obesity using a one-way ANOVA.  As a result of the analysis, the following findings were obtained. 1. Among elementary school students, there was a significant difference in academic ability among  normal and obese children; the academic level of obese children was lower in both boys and girls. 2. There was no significant difference in academic ability between obese and normal middle school  students. However, the academic achievement level of obese boys tended to be large and slightly lower  than that of normal boys.  These results suggest that establishing a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a standard weight contributes to the healthy development of cognitive function, including academic ability, in children.

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2020 Japanese Society of Education and Health Science
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