Prevalence and Associated Factors of Food Access Among College Students

Abstract

Background. The USDA defines food insecurity as when individuals lack the resources and money to obtain food in socially acceptable ways. As of December 2020, 10.5% of the U.S. population is food insecure, with an average of 39.7% food insecurity on college campuses, specifically. There are limited studies regarding food insecurity at private universities. Objective. To identify the rate and distribution of food insecurity at a private university in North Texas and to analyze the demographic, socio-economic, and other factors associated with food insecurity among college students. Methods. For this cross-sectional study, participants completed a one-time online survey. Participants had to be current students at the university and at least 18 years of age. The survey included sociodemographic questions and the validated USDA Adult Food Security Survey Module to measure food insecurity status. Independent-samples t-tests were used to compare the mean scores of continuous variables and chi-square tests of independence were used to analyze associations between sociodemographic variables and food insecurity. Results. Of the 353 participants in the study, 22.4% were categorized as food insecure. Participants who are older (p=0.006), non-binary (p=0.001), people of color (p=0.259), veterans (p=0.032), graduate students (p=0.005), upperclassman (p=0.001), those that live alone or with their children only (p=0.003), international students (p=0.367), and those with more financial aid (p=0.005) were more likely to be food insecure. Only 30.4% of food insecure participants were aware of resources on or near campus where they could obtain help to get food, and only 16 out of the 79 food insecure participants had ever utilized those resources. Conclusions. More studies are needed regarding food insecurity at private universities. However, there is sufficient data based on the current study to take action to address food insecurity at this university by means of advocacy, dissemination of resource information, and the addition of new resources, such as an on-campus food pantry.