Running head: Nutrition and Pre-School Age Children 1
What Impact Does Poor Nutrition Have On Pre-School Children Academic Performance
Courtney E. Brown
Liberty University
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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to identify the many drawbacks and problems that families,
educators, staff, and caregivers face to properly nourish children. Providing risk factors,
challenges, and interventions will give easy directions that children as well as adults can use to
see all the factors that make up poor nutrition. Poor nutritions consists of malnutrition and over
nourished. Seeing multiple theotherical frameworks can prove to families that adequate research
was done with many theorists to show that these steps are necessary. Researchers tested these
theories and problems in different areas of the world to prove that this issue is not just in the
United States but in other countries as well. There is poor nutrition everywhere. Data was
collected from preschool age children all over the world and no matter where you are, poor
nutrition still exist. All components of child care settings were tested; including fulltime day care
centers, part time day care centers, and private school day care centers. This paper underlines the
deficits in not only urban areas, but rural and even private school settings to provide evidence
that poor nutrition can affect any school setting. Physical activity, healthcare and diet are all
different criterias that were looked at and was incorporated with poor nutrition. This showed that
putting these factors with poor nutrition had some affects to the problem. These practices were
all research-based. Including a biblical worldview helped shaped why people could have poor
nutrition. Bridging the gaps in the research could provide better results and help more of our
preschool students succeed in having a successful future. Future research will all the findings
have to be done to determine if this will eventually stop all children from being malnourished or
overnourished. Providing more classes and informations to parents and caregivers will eventually
help them to give them the correct amount of nutrients they need for food intake. Successully
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doing more data and longer timeframes will be to the best interests for the students to see proper
growth in the findings.
Poor nutrition is a largely on going issue in this society as a key factor in the
disadvantage in the education of children. Different factors of this ongoing issue widely stretches
from the United States all across the world, which is a tragedy in the school systems that are
setting our students up to fail. The demanding of a proper education is only fair so we can assure
our children are getting the fundamentals to have academic achievement in schools. The
cognitive development theory created by Jean Piaget, highlights that children develop at different
stages. A child is not capable at a certain age to realize what types of foods or lack thereof they
put in their bodies. So parents, educators, and staff have to be aware and educated on what a
child needs for nourishment to be successful in school. Certain specifications, which includes
challenges and risk factors in poor nutrition play a role in the drawbacks our children face every
day in this world we live in. Setting standards, establishing resolutions and mediations to resolve
these issues, will eventually stop this increasing dynamic of this ongoing problem. Taking a look
at the impact of preschool age children will increase the chances of better academic achievement
and break the cycle of this drastic epidemic.
Learning Theory Association/Literature Review
The research designed by Jean Piaget supports this idea. His cognitive theory breaks
down the different areas children should be at a particular age for development. His theory is
divided into 4 categories that will justify that these areas are indeed true for this research.
Preschool children fall into what’s called the pre-operational stage. Children at this stage should
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be able to use symbolic thinking and express full concepts. So children at this age should have
some idea of what they are putting in their bodies, but not quite understand how the food is
hurting their bodies. Does a child really understand though what they are putting into their
bodies? Thinking about the age of the child, family, and their social-economic status can play a
part in why children are not properly nourished. Children at the preschool level are not
adequately able to properly understand what different nutrients represents. How many servings
of the different food groups they need to be successful. This will typically cause children to be
malnourished or over nourished depending on the types of foods they are eating; therefore
affecting their cognitive thinking or academic achievement to perform their daily lives in the
classroom. Multiple research has been done to test this theory.
Over the course of many generations, risk factors in poor nutrition is commonly shown in
all parts of the world. In many countries, the drastic need for more nutrition is crucial in the
development and learning of children. Wong, Moy, and Nair (2014) state “One in every three
preschool children is malnourished” (p.1). Problems ranging from behavioral, biological, and
environment situations will cause this shift. Behavioral can stem from just how you as a parent
intake in your body. The child sees what the parent is doing and mimics that behavior. Biological
stems from it’s the way of life. Environment is just that there are no means in that community.
Poverty is one of the key factors that can take place based on the child’s social-economic status.
Families that do not have the means for adequate food, healthcare or dietary needs are not going
to be able to provide their children with the necessary meals to nourish their children.
Challenges can occur when faced with poor nutrition which can stem from nutritional
disorders. Kongstantyner, Toloni, and Aguiar (2017) state “Nutritional disorders, whether based
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deviation from the average values of anthropometric measures or iron deficiency anemia, are
associated with serious health problems and the risk of premature illness and death in the early
life worldwide” (p. 35). These imbalances and basic measures are calculated with a child’s health
and weight. A child who becomes overweight gets more food intake, but not the adequate meals
he or she needs to balance their food. Preschool children attending child care centers should be
getting the same balanced meals in these environments as well as in the home to properly reach
their learning targets.
Interventions are necessary to put in place for parents and caregivers to give them valid
information on what are successful way to nourish children. Parents need to be aware of what
their children are consuming in their bodies. Parents also need knowledge on how to get help
when they can’t provide for their children. Halder and Kejriwal state “Around 925 million people
suffer from hunger in 2011 out of which, only 19% every year around 0.9 million children of less
than 5 years die in developing countries” (p. 1366). Parents need more information about food
choices, best practices, and understanding basic nutrients for children. How can we expect our
children to be healthy eaters, if we ourselves as adults are not. Classes taught will teach parents
and caregivers the amount of nutrients children showed be eating. How to learn about ways to
nourish your children when adequate resources are not available. These are helpful tips that will
be great for those parents who have just don’t know. Marquis (2015) state “Consumption of
energy and nutrient poor foods is a primary cause of childhood malnutrition, which contributes to
45% of child deaths in low resource communities” (p. 336). Nutritional knowledge and proper
food intake will give preschool students a better increase for survival rates. Marquis (2015) state
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“Integrating interventions involving microcredit and nutrition education may improve women’s
income, control over household resources, and nutritional status” (p. 337).
School programs can do more for our children in case a parent’s social-economic status is
low in their community. Day care centers are identified as an important setting for promotion of
food resources and the stop of nutritional causes and diseases of preschool age children. In
certain countries, the full-time day care centers have made programs available to educate
children on proper eating patterns. Johnston-Molley, Kearney, Hayes, Glennon-Slattery, and
Corish (2015) state “The provision of a physical and social environment that supports the pre-
school child's physical growth and his/her emotional, intellectual and motor skill development is
extremely important” (p. 1555). If you mixed physical activity and incorportated this with a
child’s proper food intake, they will be successful in their cognitive thinking. A Preschool Health
Promotion Activity Score Sheet will be able to be used to access the children on each domains
involving their environment, meals, snacks, and staff service.
In this society, basic needs for survival is a way of life. Food is one of those needs and
having poor nutrition is breaking that need for survival. Maslow’s law of hierarchy gives
directions we need for defining the five basic domains we all need for survival. The lowest level
is the Physiological level, which breaks down what people need. Children when they go to
school need food in order to process throughout the day and Maslow stresses the need for
survival. Taormina and Gao (2013) state “Drive theory posits that certain things are required by
all human beings for the continuation of their lives or well-being” (p. 156). Seward and Seward
(1937) defined drive as “an activity of the total organism resulting from a persistent
disequilibrium” (p. 349), with a disequilibrium usually created by an insufficiency of certain
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things, such as water, food, and rest. The child’s economic background can be a disadvantage as
to why a child is malnourished. In many countries, there is double burden. Children are either
malnutrition or over nourished. Children in these low-income areas are either overweight or
underweight, which is a double issue that needs to be addressed.
In some rural areas, malnutrition is also a growing issue. Halder and Kejriwal state
“Malnutrition is considered as silent emergency by UNICEF which endangers children, society,
women and future of mankind. In the developing world nearly one-third (35%) of under-five
children are stunted and rural children are twice likely to be underweight as those in urban areas”
(p. 1366). So being malnourished is something we as adults don’t want to see for our children. A
balanced diet of great nutrients in children lead to astainable growth and wonderful health,
which is the necessary development for human growth. Malnutrition can lead to very serious
health disorders that can be avoided if a child receives proper balanced foods in their diet.
Rashima, Shweta, Fathima, Agrawal, Shah, and Sequeira (2015) state:
Malnutrition in early childhood has serious, long-term consequences because it impedes
motor, sensory cognitive, and social and emotional development. Malnourished children are less
likely to perform well school and more likely to grow into malnourished adults at greater risk of
disease and early death (p. 97). This caused a shift in the thinking that private schools are not at
risk for malnutrition because parents have to pay tuition for their children that attend. Private
school setting were still having a problem nourishing students properly because of the food
choices they were giving in those settings. Students were not eating the properly meals they
needed for learning. This was a growing problem that needed to be addressed. So giving students
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access even in the private schools spectrum in nutritional facts; therefore provides better
academic performance in preschool settings.
Key Terms
•
Nutrition-is the consumption of neccessary foods to be healthy.
•
Malnutrition-is the insufficient diet due from neglect, abnormal mealtimes, insufficient
quantities of food.
•
Preschool-a childcare center or school for children 2-5 years of age.
•
Preschool children-children between the ages of 2-5 years of age attending a school
program.
•
Cognitive development-is your thinking process or critical thinking from a child to
adulthood.
•
Maslow-he created the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
•
Piaget-he created the child development stages.
•
Urban-is a city or town.
•
Rural-living in the countryside
•
Private schools-a school that cost tuition.
Gaps in Research
Future research needs to be targeted on poverty reduction. Making sure children and their
families have access to proper healthcare facilities. Having more healthcare can give these
children the antiobotics they need if they are not getting enough food. The more need for
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nutrition and hygiene programs that will educate parents of all the factors of poor nutrition. The
nutritional level of children should be one of the high priorities when focusing on our children.
In all the research, interventions on improving these criteria’s will have to have longer
timeframes to show the studies are done with validity. If tests are done and they are only giving
within a 3 month window, that is not enough time to proper see if it is working. There needs to
be other additional factors that also might cause malnutrition in preschool aged children. When
running test consider all the different social-economic statuses of all children in the world. If
statistics let us know that rural areas are more than likely to be malnourished. We as a
community, that goes for other countries too, can provide the rural areas more resources that will
help them fill those gaps with more food. Testing should also be scaled and compared to other
countries, not just different schools in that particular country.
Biblical Worldview
In the worldview, poor nutrition is a form of poverty. Poverty is the inability to
adequately afford the necessary means for daily survival. In the Bible view, poverty is broken
down into four parts concerning this issue. Poverty is due to oppression or fraud. Proverbs 14:31,
“He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the
poor.” Poverty is due to misfortune or judgement for wrong doings. Lamentations 5:3-5, “We are
orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. We have drunken our water for money; our
wood is sold unto us. Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.” Poverty is a
form of laziness or gluttony. Proverbs 10:4, “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand:
but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. Lastly poverty is the social-economic system we live in
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based on a generation cycle. Proverbs 10:15, “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the
destruction of the poor is their poverty.” Thinking of this viewpoint, preschool children and their
poor nutrition stems from this verse. People who are born and raised in an impoverished
neighborhood, will lack the education and nutrition necessary for them to be successful in the
future. This society has to stop looking at the issue under the surface and get to the root of the
problem and help these children be successful in academic achievement.
Conclusion
Poor nutrition is one of the major problems affecting students in schools today. This
epidemic has to be stopped in order for children to properly get the fundamentals they need to
have academic achievement. By the researchers Jean Piaget and Abraham Maslow, people are
able to see the research done to prove that children thinking and needs are critical to their
development. There are risk factors, challenges, and interventions that are put in place for people
to be aware of the dangers of having poor nutrition. Our purpose is to educate children and
provide them with everything possible for academic success. If we continue to have poor
nutrition, students can not function adequately throughout their day. This leads to low scores in
the classroom. Through the necessary steps educators, staff, and parents need to take to building
knowledge on this issue, students will have great achievement that will help them in the future.
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