Contents

## **Preface XI**


Chapter 1 **Introductory Chapter: Writing about Health and Academic Achievement 3**

Blandina Bernal-Morales, Cecilia Luz Balderas-Vazquez and Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Landa


Preface

The universal rights to health and education must be guaranteed for the entire population, and they should be accompanied by quality, as established by the United Nations Educa‐ tional, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In this sense, good health and edu‐ cation ensure the proper development of citizens and a decent life. To assess how close we can be to these objectives, studies must be done on the assessment of the quality of health we have and the education we receive. From this, we should address the areas of opportuni‐ ty that are telling us what must be changed. We live in a world with increasing rates of met‐ abolic diseases that can occur along with mental illness among others. These clinical conditions can reduce the performance of children and young people as students. While it is important to work on the quality of teaching, it is also important to know what the factors are and how they impact the academic performance of students. This motivated the devel‐ opment of this book, entitled *Health and Academic Achievement*. It is a compilation of 14 chap‐ ters written by authors around the world who are expert in their disciplines. This book is organized in two sections and will take you on a lecture of Challenges in School Environ‐ ments in the first one. Stressing factors that increase failure in academic achievement are addressed. In four chapters a background of internal and external stressing factors such as overload, oxidative stress, bullying, or drug abuse are reviewed to know the biological re‐ sponses and the negative impact on executive functions and mental health. You will also find a valuable last chapter about a study of challenges of community college counselors when working with students experiencing mental health disorders. The second section of the book on Interventions for a Successful Health and Academic Achievement Binomy is formed of eight chapters. You will find a review about social relationships and emotional well-being in adolescent students related to academic achievement, and practices to foster family and teacher relationships with students. Also, the contributors present a review of the consequences in emotional health related to internalized problems in children and ado‐ lescents, therapeutic strategies, and prevention in the school environment, followed by a study that critically examines the concept of health, the connection with goals, and effective school-based interventions in academic achievement. Resilience is addressed in an original contribution to relate it to psychological well-being and academic performance in 12–17 year-old students through structural models. Another original contribution relates academic self-efficacy with two approaches of learning and academic achievement in young students and is followed by an original descriptive study about community engagement and its im‐ pact from the view of 10–19-year-old students. Due to the wide body of research that has proved the strong links between health behaviors and academic achievement, the last two chapters are reviews of physical activity practice, sleeping habits, and cardiorespiratory fit‐ ness on cognitive function and goals in young students. Due to the characteristics of this book as a whole and the quality of the chapters that comprise it, we are sure that the reader

