The Impact of Health Behavior on Academic Performance: A Study of Management Undergraduates of State Universities in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Even though many determinants of academic performance could be found in the extant literature, health behavior is little investigated and the effects on undergraduates’ academic performance in Sri Lankan context has not been examined yet. Bridging the gap in the context, the current study assessed the impact of health behavior on the academic performance of management undergraduates of state universities in Sri Lanka. The current study was conducted as a cross-sectional field study among a sample of 304 undergraduates selected via the convenience sampling technique from two leading state universities in Sri Lanka. The collected data was analyzed with the aid of SPSS by using correlation, regression, and descriptive statistics. It is found that there is a significant impact of health behavior on academic performance, and further there is a strong positive relationship between health behavior and academic performance. Building on the findings, it is recommended for universities and high education institutions to promote healthy practices, link healthy practices to academic disciplines of all the faculties, and enhance sports & other extracurricular activities of undergraduates, which in turn will strengthen the healthy behavior leading towards the higher academic performance of undergraduates.