RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN EDO STATE NIGERIA

The study sought to investigate relationship between nutritional status and academic performance of junior secondary school students in Edo South Senatorial District. This became necessary because nutritional status can affect student academic achievement. The research design adopted for this study is the correlational and expo-facto research design. The population of the study comprised 6760 junior secondary school two (JSS2) students of 137 public secondary schools in Edo South Senatorial District for 2022/2023 academic session. The sample sizes of 338 students were used for the study. The study employed proportionate sampling technique for effective selection. The instruments for the study were structured questionnaire and Profoma. However, the reliability coefficient of 0.78 was obtained. The finding revealed that that the nutritional status of junior secondary school students in Edo State, Nigeria is poor. Also, It was concluded that while a significant proportion of students in junior secondary school in Edo State, Nigeria, exhibit poor nutritional status, there is no significant relationship between their nutritional status and academic performance. It was recommended that Schools should collaborate with local health authorities to implement nutritional programs that provide balanced meals, focusing on underweight students to improve their nutritional status.