Influence of Nutritional Status on Cognition and Academic Performance of College Students

Adolescence and puberty bring a variety of physical, social and emotional changes and is stated as a transitional period. Poor health and malnutrition may affect cognitive abilities, necessary for learning process and consequently educational achievement. Present study aims at understanding the effect of the nutritional status on cognition and academic performance of college going adolescents. 110 number of college studying adolescents aged 15 to 17 years old were selected randomly as the sample for the study. Data collected using short term memory test, visual-spatial memory test, verbal fluency/memory test, letter-cancellation task, school marks of the examination of previous year and nutritional status. About 62 per cent of the respondents were of normal nutritional status and the nutrient intakes were inconsistent with recommended dietary allowances (RDA) by ICMR. Significant relation (P<0.05) was also observed between good nutritional status and academic performances.