The Consumption of Sweets and Academic Performance among Mongolian Children

Abstract

The regular consumption of sweets has been shown to have an adverse association with the academic performance of children in developed countries; however, the situation in developing countries is less clear. Therefore, we examined the association between the consumption of sweets and academic performance among Mongolian children via a cross-sectional study employing data from 787 children aged 8-16 from two public schools in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The frequency of the consumption of sweets by the children was captured using a questionnaire and then linked to their academic scores; the association between the consumption of sweets and scores in mathematics and the Mongolian language was evaluated using multiple linear regression adjusted for other covariates. It was found that out of 787 students, 58.6% ate sweets every day. After adjusting for covariates, no significant association was observed between the consumption of sweets and mathematics scores (coefficient: 0.15; 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.02-0.32), while a higher consumption of sweets was significantly associated with higher scores in the Mongolian language (coefficient: 0.25; 95% CI: 0.09-0.41). The associations established in this study are inconsistent with the reports of other studies.

Keywords: Mongolia; academic score; nutrition.

Figure 1

Flowchart for selecting participants in the study.