Background: Poor academic achievement during Senior High School (SHS) will contribute to the failure of social and economic development in a country (Chua and Mosha, 2015); however, SHS students’ academic achievement in Indonesia is far behind other countries.

Objectives: To examine the differences on academic achievement based on nutritional status and other factors after controlling for relevant confounders.

Method: Cross sectional study including 130 SHS students, aged 15-18 years, from Budi Mulia SHS Bogor, West Java. Data were collected from March-April 2016 and academic achievement (mean of grades obtained in several core subjects) was measured as well as height for age, BMI for age, dietary intake (energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, and iron using 2x24h food recall), frequency of breakfast, energy intake during breakfast (2x24h food recall), cardio-respiratory fitness (20 m shuttle run), sleep duration, cognitive stimulation, and motivation. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to find the dominant factor and other factors that give differences in academic achievement.

Results: There are 51,5% students who have poor academic achievement and 48,5% students who have good academic achievement. The dominant factor that determines students’ academic achievement is cognitive stimulation (P=0,002;OR=17) after controlling fitness status, protein intake, nutritional status (HAZ), sleep duration, energy intake during breakfast, energy intake, and motivation. The other factors that give differences on academic achievement are motivation (P=0,001;OR=13), energy intake (P=0,017;OR=6), cardio-respiratory fitness level (P=0,045;OR=5), and protein intake (P=0,046;OR=5). Height for age (P=0,33;OR=5), sleep duration (P=0,437;OR=2), and energy intake during breakfast (P=0,998;OR=2) were found as confounders.

Conclusions: Academic success is associated with higher cognitive stimulation, achievement motivation, energy intake, cardio-respiratory fitness level, and protein intake. Schools and parents should consider strategies how to improve those related factors for improving academic achievement.

Keywords:

academic achievement; cognitive stimulation; nutrient intake; nutritional status; Senior High School