This survey of 855 first-year students from eight U.S. universities indicated that towards the end of their first year of college, 19% were food-insecure and 7.1% reported severe food insecurity. An additional 25.3% of first-year students experienced anxiety about food shortage. Food-insecure students reported higher perceived stress, a greater prevalence of disordered eating behaviors, and poorer sleep quality compared to food-secure students, a finding that remained significant after controlling for sociodemographic correlates of food insecurity. Food security status was also associated with race/ethnicity, place of residence, Pell grant status, parental education, GPA, meal plan enrollment, and food pantry use.
The prevalence of food insecurity in the current study is markedly lower than prevalence estimates reported in previous studies of college students [19, 24, 28, 45]. Of two studies specific to first-year college students, Bruening et al. [24] found a prevalence of 32% while Darling et al. [28] reported a prevalence of 28%. It is worth noting that, not only are the sample sizes considerably smaller than that of the present study, but each is representative of a single institution. Heterogeneity in food security prevalence at the institutional or regional level may partly explain the discrepancy. Furthermore, the availability and extent of support available to prevent food insecurity among students may widely differ between schools. Another factor may be the influence of self-selection bias. As a sub-study of the larger Get FRUVED project, the present investigation was limited to students who volunteered for a multi-year study tied to health and wellness and attended a follow-up at the end of their first year in college.
Findings from this study shed light on the multifaceted impact food insecurity may have on college students’ physical and mental health. Students who experienced food insecurity during their first year of college were four times more likely to have high perceived stress and two times more likely to have poor sleep quality compared to food-secure students. These findings are in line with previous results in the scientific literature. Studies among college students have linked food insecurity to poor mental health and high rates of anxiety [28] and perceived stress [25, 28]. Similarly, in a longitudinal study, Heflin and colleagues [46] reported that food insecurity might be a causal or contributing factor for depression among women. With respect to sleep quality, although the association between food insecurity and sleep has not been examined yet among college students, a study of food insecurity and sleep among men and women reported similar findings [47]. Food-insecure men and women were more likely to report sleep complaints compared to their food-secure counterparts [47]. Thus, students experiencing food insecurity may frequently experience other hardships related to physical and mental health [28].
Food insecurity can further influence the students’ health by eliciting disordered eating behaviors. Consistent with a previous study among first-year college students [28], results from this study suggest that students who have experienced food insecurity had higher odds of disordered eating behaviors than their food-secure counterparts. However, it is worth highlighting the possible overlap between disordered eating indices and compensatory behaviors stemming directly from food insecurity. For example, routine abstinence from eating when hungry could be indicative of disordered eating or simply a food-insecure individual’s coping strategy to prolong food supplies. Other studies have shown that food-insecure individuals adopt a ‘feast or famine’ cycle determined by food availability [48] wherein food intake is intentionally limited as resources diminish followed by overeating when food is more available [49]. Although such behaviors may not represent ‘traditional’ disordered eating, previous work suggests that food insecurity may precipitate binge eating behaviors in children [50]. Regardless of the underlying cause, the increased odds of disordered eating behaviors among food-insecure students indicates heightened eating-related psychological stress and possible deviations from healthy eating patterns. Finally, while no difference was found in BMI by food security status, the observed health risks associated with food insecurity may lead to weight gain and associated co-morbidities over time [51,52,53,54].
Our results indicate that the burdens of food insecurity may translate to academic challenges. Food-insecure students were approximately two times more likely to have a GPA < 3.00 compared to food-secure students. This finding is similar to previous evaluations of GPA among food-insecure college students [29, 45]. Morris et al. [45] noted a significant association between food insecurity and GPA in which students in the highest GPA range (≥ 3.00) were more food-secure than students with lower GPAs. Psychological aspects of food insecurity include fatigue, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and physical weakness [55, 56], which may impair the ability to concentrate during class. Previous work has shown that student energy and ability to concentrate worsens as the food insecurity score increases [57]. Thus, the development of support systems to address food insecurity may be an additional approach for schools interested in enhancing students’ academic experience. Nevertheless, self-reported GPA does not provide the full picture when examining students’ success in college. Future research should consider incorporating additional metrics of academic success such as retention and on-time graduation rates.
This investigation provides insight into the relationship between food security status and students’ characteristics. Significant associations were identified between food insecurity and race/ethnicity, parental education, Pell grant status, place of residence, and meal plan enrollment. Students who identified as Black or Hispanic/Latino and had a low parental education were at increased risk of food insecurity, which is consistent with national data from the general population [41] as well as findings from a large study among college students [45]. Although living off-campus and not being enrolled in a meal plan were each associated with food insecurity, these two variables are highly related as meal plan enrollment is generally required among students residing on-campus but not for those off-campus. This observation is substantiated by a significant association between meal plan enrollment and place of residence among our sample. Access to affordable food off-campus may be more limited than through campus dining halls. Food-insecure students also reported that the lack of reliable transportation hindered food access [6]. Hence, living and eating off-campus may challenge students’ financial management skills more than living on-campus with a meal plan. Collectively, these characteristics can provide a framework for the development of interventions and support systems targeted to those most at risk of food insecurity.
College students who experience financial hardships or inability to afford food may seek aid from a few available resources. The United States Department of Education distributes the Federal Pell grant, a need-based program that is awarded for low-income students for 12 semesters. In the present study, students receiving Pell grant awards were more likely to be food-insecure. The implications of this finding may challenge the adequacy of the buying power of Pell grants currently available for students in financial need. While the cost of tuition reached an average of $9970 in the year of 2017–2018 [58], the maximum Pell grant awarded in the year of 2017–2018 was $5920 [59]. In addition to the Pell grant program, the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP) provides a safety net for food insecure individuals; however, its eligibility criteria are very restrictive for university students. To be eligible, students must work at least 20 h per week, have dependents and not have child care, and participate in work-study programs. Lastly, meal plan enrollment alone does not appear to promote food security, as approximately 70% of food-insecure students reported having a meal plan. The term ‘meal plan’ traditionally encompasses a range of plans offered by the school, each based on the extent of access provided to the student. While some plans allow for unlimited access throughout the week, others are limited to one meal per day and even no meals on weekends. Clearly these limited plans would not guarantee food security and, the all-you-can-eat policy at most campus dining halls may even perpetuate the feast-famine eating cycle, previously associated with binge eating, and weight gain [50, 54]. Thus, even students who are enrolled in a meal plan or receive federal financial help may still be vulnerable to food insecurity.
In the wake of the cuts in federal and state funding and heightened food insecurity, campus food pantries have been the fastest growing form of emergency relief. Despite the recent increase in the number of food pantries [20], descriptions of students’ use of this resource are limited. In the present study, only 7.7% of the student population utilized the food pantry, a finding that is comparable to our previous results of students at the University of Florida [21]. Many students refuse to use an on-campus food pantry because of the stigma attached to its use or the sense that the food pantry is not intended for them [21], as its need implies a personal failure. Access barriers such as limited hours, regulated frequency of use, and lack of knowledge on the logistics of its use, have also been reported by students [60]. Nonetheless, while the best-funded U.S. approaches to household food insecurity are charitable food-assistance programs, food pantries cannot end hunger or provide a nutritious food supply [61]. Donated food is often not appealing and limited in key nutrients [60]. In fact, food pantry users prefer and need fresh produce, dairy products, eggs, and meat above the canned food provided in the emergency food systems [62]. Collectively, to make the college experience more equitable for students, research and upstream solutions to student food poverty should go beyond the boundaries of need-based food pantries, to a broader food system, with a “rights-based approach to food security” [63].
The results of this study should be interpreted with consideration of its limitations. Sampling bias stemming from the study design may have influenced overall food insecurity prevalence. Thus, it is important to consider when interpreting these findings that the study population is restricted to students who met the eligibility for the Get FRUVED project. Nevertheless, although the prevalence of food insecurity may have been lower than other studies of first-year college students [24, 28, 30], the relationship between food insecurity, sociodemographic, health and academic parameters is similar to other reports in the literature [24, 28, 29]. The cross-sectional design of this study only permitted examining associations rather than establishing potential causation between food insecurity and health and academic parameters. Longitudinal and intervention studies that elucidate the mechanisms by which food security can improve health and educational outcomes are needed. Despite the anonymity of the survey, the food security questionnaire items are prone to recall and social desirability biases related to self-report and social stigma associated with food insecurity [21, 64], which may limit the validity of the results. Additionally, food security survey items address questions referencing the past 12-months. Given that data collection occurred at the end of the spring semester (April 2016), a portion of that 12 months window included time prior to students’ enrollment in college. However, consistent with other studies [24, 30] we believe that capturing the experience of first-year college students is of utmost importance, as attending a university is a period where food insecurity may become an issue, for those experiencing financial constraints and social pressures in their new-found autonomy [5]. Finally, although we used USDA AFSSM to assess food insecurity among our sample, the psychometric properties of this survey among college students have not been evaluated.