Research Review: School-based Health Interventions and Academic Achievement provides important
new evidence that links students’ health and academic performance. It identifies proven health
interventions and practical resources that can positively affect both student health and academic
achievement.
Health and Education Are Linked. For students in middle and high school, health risks and
academic risks affect each other. Students who do poorly in school may have more health risks, which
adversely affect their achievement and in turn contribute to health risks. Data from the Healthy Youth
Survey in Washington State provide a new way of looking at the relationship between health risk
and academic achievement. The report examines 13 key physical and mental health risk factors and
analyzes the relationship between these specific health factors and the grades students report getting
in school.
Every Health Risk Can Affect Academic Success. The more health risks students have, the less
likely they will succeed in school or graduate on time. Each health risk that can be removed has the
potential to positively influence academic behaviors. Improvement of even a single health factor may
help improve academic achievement.
Interventions Can Narrow Disparities. Lack of equal chances for success—the result of poverty,
discrimination, unequal access to services, and other factors—affects a person’s health. These patterns
of socioeconomic disparities are often the same for disparities in academic achievement. It may
be unrealistic to expect to close the achievement gap for disadvantaged youth without addressing
wellness, readiness to learn, and the conditions affecting the health of the community.
Health Interventions Can Improve Learning and Health. There are many proven interventions
that have a positive impact on students’ health and academic achievement. This report examines
how delivering supportive health policies, instruction, and services comprehensively may be more
effective than offering single health interventions. School leaders are offered six key ingredients
for success that are supported by research and are consistent with the Coordinated School Health
approach from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The findings of this report suggest that implementing proven school-based health interventions is an
opportunity to improve students’ academic achievement, well-being, and quality of life.