Junk Food Consumption, Physical Fitness and Academic Grade Point Average among Teenage Girl’s Students in Kangavar County, Kermanshah Province, Iran

Abstract

Background: The consumption of unhealthy food is increasing among both children and adults, which can have detrimental effects on their overall health. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the consumption of junk foods with standard physical fitness tests and academic grade point average among 13-15-year-old girls’ students in Kangavar County, Kermanshah Province, Iran.Methods: This was a descriptive-correlation study. From 380 girl’s students aged 13-15 years in Kangavar County, Kermanshah Province, Iran, 181 individuals voluntarily participated in the study. The schools were selected using the multi-stage cluster sampling method. Height, weight, and body mass index were evaluated based on the defined Body Mass Index (BMI) cutoffs in the National Health and Nutrition Survey. To check the amount of junk food consumption, Junk Food Frequency Questionnaire of Kamangar and colleagues (2023) was used. In order to assess the cardio-respiratory endurance of students, a 540-meter test was conducted. Additionally, a modified supine pull-up test was used to measure the endurance and strength of the shoulder muscles, sit-up tests were performed to measure abdominal muscle endurance, and a flexibility box was used to evaluate the flexibility of lower and posterior muscles (thighs). The grade point average of the students at the end of the year was used to measure the academic grade point average. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in order to calculate mean and standard deviation. Variables were examined for correlation using the Spearman correlation method.Results: Consuming junk food was found to have a considerable negative correlation with physical fitness factors related to health, such as cardio-respiratory endurance (r=0.371, P=0.04), muscle strength (r=-0.241, P=0.002), muscle endurance (r=-0.249, P=0.01), and flexibility (r=-0.134, P=0.01), but there was a direct and significant correlation between junk foods consumption and body mass index (r=0.18, P=0.04). Also, there was no significant correlation between the consumption of junk foods and the academic grade point average of the subjects (r=-0.06, P=0.12).Conclusions: Our results indicated that increased consumption of junk food has an inverse correlation with physical fitness and a direct correlation with the body mass index of the students. It is recommended to pay more attention and support parents and policymakers regarding nutrition and physical activities in society and schools.

Keywords

• foods
• physical fitness
• student