Direct link found between college students' health and academic achievement

Research from the United States has found that lack of sleep, excessive computer screen time and stress have a negative effect on college students' grades.

According to a study by researchers at the University of Minnesota Boynton Health Service, insufficient sleep, excessive television/computer screen time, stress, gambling, alcohol and tobacco use and other health-related issues, are taking their toll on college students' academic performance.

Director and chief health officer Dr. Ed Ehlinger says the study shows for the first that there is a direct link between college students' health and their academic achievement.

The study is part of one of the most comprehensive studies of college students' health in the U.S. and involved as many as 24,000 students from 14 Minnesota colleges and universities who were randomly selected to participate - 9,931 completed the 2007 College Student Health Survey Report.

The results only include undergraduate students from two-year and four-year institutions but all five Minnesota Universities were included in the survey.

The results showed that 69.9% of college students reported they were stressed and 32.9% of those students said that stress was hurting their academic performance. 20% of students reported that sleep difficulties impacted on their academics and Dr. Ehlinger says the more days students get adequate sleep the better their grades and he believes there is a direct link between the two.

When it comes to excessive television and computer use (not including academic use), 30.4% of students surveyed reported excessive screen time and 13% of those said it impacted on their studies - these students were also found to have lower average grades.

Dr. Ehlinger says turning off the computer or TV and going to sleep is one of the best things students can do to improve their grades.

Students who reported that they had smoked during the past 30 days also had lower grades than students who reported not smoking and even students who smoked infrequently had lower scores than those who didn't smoke - Dr. Ehlinger says using tobacco to calm down or 'to be social' is also lowering students' grades.

Dr. Ehlinger hopes the study's results will spur college students to change their behaviour and encourage colleges to pay more attention to the health of their students.

The report also includes information on mental health, health insurance, physical activity levels, financial issues, drug use, injury, sexual assault and alcohol use - which Dr. Ehlinger says is important to the public, students and health officials.