What's the Evidence of the Impact of Health on Education?

Author(s):

Kevin Dadaczynski(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2012

Network:

08. Research on Health Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

08 SES 02 A, Education and Health: Meeting Place - Schools

Parallel Paper Session

Time:

2012-09-18

15:15-16:45

Room:

FFL - Aula 11

Chair:

Michael Ormshaw

Contribution

The development and implementation of school health promotion mostly follow a public health related argumentation which is exclusively focused on health needs and problems. To foster the implementation of school health promotion several calls have been made to consider the intertwining of health and education (Basch, 2011, Paulus, 2007, St Leger et al., 2011). In general, three different paths of the relation between health and education can be distinguished: a) the impact of education on health, b) the impact of health on education, and c) the impact of third variables on the association between health and education. The present paper aims to give an overview of international research results concerning the impact of health on education. Based on an analytic framework by Suhrcke and de Paz Nieves (2011) it is expected that health behaviors (e.g. physical activity) and health conditions (mental health problems) can have a negative impact on educational attainment (e.g. level of education, college enrollment) and educational performance (e.g. grade point average) which in turn affect outcomes in adulthood (e.g. health, criminal activity, or income). However, this impact is influenced by a number of mediating variables (e.g. self-esteem or how teachers treat their pupils) and moderating variables (e.g. socioeconomic background or national health policies). Available reviews and meta-analysis in this field are either focused on a specific topic such as peer victimization (Nakamoto et al., 2010) or attention problems (Polderman et al., 2010) or also include cross sectional studies (e.g. Suhrcke & de Paz Nieves, 2011) which are not appropriate in determining the direction of relationships. Hence, the present overview is based exclusively on longitudinal studies concerning the impact of a range of health indicators on education.

Method

Using PsyndexPlus, Web of Science, PsycInfo, PubMed, and ERIC a systematic database search was conducted. According to the German health target “growing up healthy” (BMG, 2010) diet (overweight, obesity), physical activity, and mental health (depression, anxiety, behavior problems, and ADHS) were selected as independent variables. Based on the work of Suhrcke and de Paz Nieves (2011), educational attainment and educational performance were used as dependent variables. The following selection criteria were applied: I) publication period (2000 to 2011), II) age group (school age for at least one measurement point), III) methods (longitudinal studies), IV) quality (only peer reviewed) and V) language (German and English). The database search resulted in a total of 39 publications.

Expected Outcomes

Findings indicate that overweight, obesity, reduced physical activity, and mental health problems can have a negative impact on school performance (school grades), school attendance, and school completion as well as on entering/ graduating from higher education. In accordance with Suhrcke and de Paz Nieves (2011) there is a lack of (longitudinal) studies on the effects of anxiety on educational outcomes. In contrast 6 longitudinal studies on depression could be identified which consistently demonstrate a negative impact on school performance. Furthermore, a number of third variables could be identified (e.g. social status, degree of stigmatization). Finally, some gender effects came to light which show that the negative effect of overweight, obesity, and reduced physical activity were more pronounced for girls than for boys. Although some methodological limitations must be acknowledged (lack of quality appraisal of the included studies), this review gains new insights in the relationship of health and education which have important implications for the development and implementation of activities on school health promotion.

References

Basch, C. E. (2011). Healthier students are better learners: A missing link in school reforms to close the achievement gap. Journal of School Health, 81, 593-598. Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (2010). Nationales Gesundheitsziel - Gesund aufwach¬sen: Lebenskompetenz, Bewegung, Ernährung. [national health target - growing up healthy: life skills, physical activity,and diet]. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Gesundheit. Nakamoto, J. & Schwartz, D. (2010). Is peer victimization associated with academic achievement? A meta-analytic review. Social Development, 19, 221–242. Paulus, P. (2007). 20 Years of Health Promotion Research in and on Settings in Europe – the case of School Health Promotion. Italian Journal of Public Health, 5, 248-254. Polderman, T. C., Boomsma, D. I., Bartels, M. M., Verhulst, F. C. & Huizink, A. C. (2010). A systematic review of prospective studies on attention problems and academic achievement. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 122, 271-284. St Leger, Young, I., Blanchard, C. & Perry, M. (2010). Promoting health in Schools. From Evidence to Action. Retrieved from: http://www.iuhpe.org [access: 24.01.2012]. Suhrcke, M. & de Paz Nieves, C. (2011). The impact of health and health behaviours on educational outcomes in high-income countries: A review of the evidence. Copenhagen: WHO.

Author Information

Kevin Dadaczynski (presenting / submitting)

Leuphana University Lueneburg

Lueneburg

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