School Performance and Eating Behaviors in Children and Adolescents

Aim: The current systematic literature review aims at investigating the possible effect of diet and eating behaviors, on academic performance in children and adolescents. Methods: The scientific bases PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and ERIC were used, with specific key words, to find relevant papers published in the last 10 years (January 2006 – December 2016). Results: Based on the relevance of the articles to the reviewing subject, 30 articles were included in the review. The effects of unhealthy food choices in school performance of students and the positive effects of the systematic consumption of fruits and vegetables were examined in the majority of studies. There is an increased interest around children’s dietary patterns, as a whole, and their effect on school performance. Conclusions: Students that have adopted healthy eating patterns, healthy food choices and behaviors and refrain from regular consumption of junk foods and soft drinks, appear to have better school performance. Hellenic J Nutr Diet 2018, 5(1):26-39