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An Overview on the Associations between Health Behaviors and Brain Health in Children and Adolescents with Special Reference to Diet Quality

Year of publication

2020

Authors

Naveed, Sehrish; Lakka, Timo; Haapala, Eero A.

Abstract

Unhealthy diet has been associated with overweight, obesity, increased cardiometabolic risk, and recently, to impaired cognition and academic performance. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the associations between health behaviors and cognition and academic achievement in children and adolescents under 18 years of age with a special reference to diet quality. Dietary patterns with a low consumption of fish, fruits, and vegetables, and high in fast food, sausages, and soft drinks have been linked to poor cognition and academic achievement. The studies on the associations between the high intake of saturated fat and red meat and low intake of fiber and high-fiber grain products with cognition are limited. The available evidence and physiological mechanisms suggest that diet may have direct, indirect, and synergistic effects on brain and cognition with physical activity, sedentary behaviors, cardiometabolic health, and sleep, but the associations have been modest. Therefore, integrating a healthy diet, physically active lifestyle, and adequate sleep may provide optimal circumstances for brain development and learning. We conclude that most of the existing literature is contained in cross-sectional studies, which therefore highlights the need for longitudinal and intervention studies on the effects of diet, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep on cognition and academic performance.
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Organizations and authors

University of Eastern Finland

Haapala Eero

Naveed Sehrish

Lakka Timo

Publication type

Publication format

Article

Parent publication type

Journal

Article type

Review article

Audience

Scientific

Peer-reviewed

Peer-Reviewed

MINEDU's publication type classification code

A2 Review article, Literature review, Systematic review

Publication channel information

Volume

17

Issue

3

Pages

953

​Publication forum

58431

​Publication forum level

1

Open access

Open access in the publisher’s service

Yes

Open access of publication channel

Fully open publication channel

Self-archived

Yes

Other information

Fields of science

Biomedicine; Public health care science, environmental and occupational health

Keywords

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Internationality of the publisher

International

Language

English

International co-publication

No

Co-publication with a company

No

DOI

10.3390/ijerph17030953

The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection

Yes