ABSTRACT Good nutrition must concern itself with the amounts and kinds of nutrients the body needs.

Therefore adequate nourishment and good eating habits are important to ones physical and mental development. What a person eat fuels his/ her growth, pushes his/ her exploration and learning, and strengthens his/ her resistance to illness. Food is considered as the bodys fuel. One cant live without food. The key is to give ones body enough nutrients and energy without eating too much. The dietary practices of adolescents can have a long- term health implications or any failure to consume an adequate diet during this time can potentially affect their growth and delay sexual maturation. A deeper and clearer understanding of the dietary practices of these young individuals would initiate remedial measures and develop effective intervention to change their eating behavior for a healthier life in the years to come. It is in this light that this study focused on the food selection of the students for the different meals and snacks, and the effects of their dietary practices on their academic performance for the last two semesters. It simply studied the relationship between their food intakes and their academic performance in college undergraduate studies. Through the descriptive causal comparative method of research and with the use of the questionnaire as the main research instrument and the interview to cross- check and validate the answers called for, answers to the following problems were sought: 1.what foods do the students selects for breakfast, lunch, supper and snacks; 2. What is the students academic performance for the past 2 semesters; and 3. Whether or not a positive relationship exists between the dietary practices of the students and their individual academic performance. In describing and analyzing the data delivered from 30 official deans list and the other 30 were not but still of good scholastic record, the statistical tools used were relative percentage, frequency, ranking, and Chi- square. The study revealed the following findings and conclusions:

This paper was submitted for eWORLDFORUM 2011 conference

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1. There is a significant difference on the food preference of the deans list and non- deans list. The deans list has a wider range of food preference in almost all categories. The coffee consumption during breakfast of the non- deans list is alarming, aside from that, the soft drink consumption during lunch. Based on the over-all food preference, the deans list therefore has better food preferences than non-deans list. 2. In totality, the students have satisfactory GPA for the past two semesters. Though they are classified as deans list and non- deans list. Deans list is getting an average of 1.78 above, those students who get a GPA of 1.8 and below are not considered deans list but still they are of good performance. 3. There is a significant relationship between students dietary practices on their academic performance. This means that the performance of the students in the academe depends greatly on their food intakes and other dietary habits, and should follow daily consumption patterns and corresponding intakes of the basic food groups with sound dietary practices.

This paper was submitted for eWORLDFORUM 2011 conference

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