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Higher Weight, Lower Education: A Longitudinal Association Between Adolescents' Body Mass Index and Their Subsequent Educational Achievement Level?
Author(s) -
Larsen Junilla K.,
Kleinjan Marloes,
Engels Rutger C. M. E.,
Fisher Jennifer O.,
Hermans Roel C.J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12212
Subject(s) - body mass index , longitudinal study , demography , confounding , association (psychology) , psychology , academic achievement , adolescent health , developmental psychology , gerontology , medicine , psychotherapist , nursing , pathology , sociology
BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to examine the association between adolescents' body mass index ( BMI ) z‐scores and their subsequent level of schooling, extending previous longitudinal research by using objectively measured weight and height data. METHODS A longitudinal study with 3 study waves (1‐year intervals) involving 1248 Dutch adolescents (49% girls; mean age = 13.7 years) at schools providing different educational levels was used to determine adolescents who moved and did not move to a lower educational level in the first year, or in the second year, and to examine whether this movement could be predicted by BMI z‐scores (zBMI), after controlling for a large range of potential confounding factors. RESULTS A total of 1164 Dutch adolescents continued in the same level of education, whereas 84 adolescents moved to a lower educational level (43 moved in the first and 41 in the second year). A higher zBMI significantly increased the risk of a general transition to a lower educational level, and of a transition in the first year, but not in the second year, after controlling for potential demographic, behavioral, and psychological confounds. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that a higher zBMI during adolescence immediately lowers educational achievement level during general secondary education.