The benefits of a healthy lifestyle on children in their early years' education

Abstract

This research aims to discern the positive effects that a healthy lifestyle has on children in their early years and their education. This study sets to investigate the kind of lifestyle that a cohort of Year 1 children and their parents are following, who attend a State school. State schools were chosen from privileged and deprived areas in Malta according to the NSO statistics on Income and Living Conditions 2010 (Published in 2012). A comparison is made between the two settings according to the lifestyle that children and their parents follow. Quantitative research method was used to obtain records and data was gathered with the use of a questionnaire that the parents filled in. Questionnaires covered questions on breakfast, lunch and dinner intake by both children and parents, physical exercise done by children and parents and intake of fruits and vegetables by children and their parents. Findings demonstrate that children who attend schools in privileged settings are more likely to follow a healthy lifestyle than children who attend schools in deprived settings. This is also reflected in the parents results, therefore the kind of lifestyle that parents follow can reflect on the kind of lifestyle that children follow. This research concluded that more awareness is needed for families to follow a healthy lifestyle and that children should live a healthy lifestyle from a very young age as the children's education can be positively affected.