THE KNOWLEDGE OF BALANCED DIET AND ITS IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG PRESCHOOLERS IN BENIN CITY.

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the knowledge of balanced diet and its impact on academic performance among preschoolers in Benin City. To achieve the purpose of the study, four research questions were raised and examined. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The study population consists of teachers from 68 privately owned preschools and 18 public preschools in Benin Metropolis, Edo State. The sample size for the study was made up of one hundred and thirty (130) respondents randomly selected from 13 preschools in Benin Metropolis, Edo State. The instrument for the study is a structured questionnaire titled “Knowledge of Balanced Diet and Its Impact on Academic Performance among Preschoolers Questionnaire (KBDIAPPQ)”. The questionnaire instrument was used for data collection. The test re-test method was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. The questionnaire was administered to a group of 20 respondents which did not constitute part of the study. The instruments were given to the students to fill and the data obtained were analyzed using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. A reliability coefficient of 0.87 was obtained, indicating that the instrument is reliable for the study. The data collected were analyzed using simple statistics involving mean and standard deviation. The attitude score was obtained using item by item summation process. The cumulative score for each item was compared against the criterion. The findings from the study include that there is a significant influence of parents’ nutritional knowledge on their children’s balanced diet. It was concluded that there is a significant influence of balanced diet on the academic performance of preschool children in Benin City. The study recommended that there should be collaboration between the government and all relevant educational stakeholders to integrate nutrition education into the preschool curriculum to teach children, parents, and educators about the importance of balanced diets.