Table 4 University students’ sociodemographic characteristics and household food security status according to adherence to dietary patterns

University students’ characteristics

 Age (years), mean (SD)

21.9 (5.1)

22.5 (5.5)

 < 0.001

22.8 (5.6)

22.2 (5.3)

0.049

 Sex, n (%)

0.478

0.312

  Man

1981 (52.7)

1775 (47.3)

153 (4.1)

3603 (95.9)

  Woman

2026 (51.9)

1877 (48.1)

178 (4.6)

3725 (95.4)

 Marital status

0.001

0.094

  Not in a relationship (single, separated, divorced, or widower)

3643 (53)

3234 (47)

288 (4.2)

6589 (95.8)

  Partnered (living together, cohabiting or married)

364 (46.5)

418 (53.5)

43 (5.5)

739 (94.5)

 Enrollment college type

 < 0.001

0.015

  Private

1041 (48.3)

1115 (51.7)

113 (5.2)

2043 (94.8)

  Public

2966 (53.9)

2537 (46.1)

218 (4.0)

5285 (96.0)

 Academic year

0.001

0.051

  3rd to 5th year

1601 (49.9)

1610 (50.1)

143 (4.5)

3068 (95.5)

  2nd year

1010 (54.0)

859 (46.0)

95 (5.1)

1774 (94.9)

  1st year

1396 (54.1)

1183 (45.9)

93 (3.6)

2486 (96.4)

 Scholarship student

0.474

0.646

  No

3376 (52.5)

3054 (47.5)

275 (4.3)

6155 (95.7)

  Yes

631 (51.3)

598 (48.7)

56 (4.6)

1173 (95.4)

 Employment status in the month before the survey

0.086

0.648

  No employed

2307 (51.5)

2171 (48.5)

189 (4.2)

4289 (95.8)

  Employed

1697 (53.5)

1474 (46.5)

141 (4.4)

3030 (95.6)

 Indigenous language

 < 0.001

0.508

  No

3912 (52.0)

3618 (48.0)

324 (4.3)

7206 (95.7)

  Yes

95 (73.6)

34 (26.4)

7 (5.4)

122 (94.6)

 Indigenous self-identification

 < 0.001

0.093

  No

2895 (48.9)

3027 (51.1)

243 (4.1)

5677 (95.9)

  Yes

1114 (64.1)

625 (35.9)

88 (5.1)

1651 (94.9)

University students’ household characteristics

 Age of the household head (years), mean (SD)

48.7 (12.1)

48.6 (12.2)

0.821

41.9 (13.9)

48.9 (12.0)

 < 0.001

 Sex of the household head, n (%)

0.100

 < 0.001

  Man

2837 (52.9)

2522 (47.1)

194 (3.6)

5165 (96.4)

  Woman

1170 (50.9)

1130 (49.1)

137 (6.0)

2163 (94.0)

 Education of the household head

 < 0.001

0.178

  Bachelor´s degree or more

484 (32.5)

1003 (67.5)

67 (4.5)

1420 (95.5)

  Elementary to high school

3046 (55.5)

2446 (44.5)

244 (4.4)

5248 (95.6)

  Incomplete elementary school or less

477 (70.1)

203 (29.9)

20 (2.9)

660 (97.1)

 Household type

0.628

 < 0.001

  Nuclear

2664 (52.0)

2460 (48.0)

214 (4.2)

4910 (95.8)

  Extended

1167 (52.8)

1044 (47.2)

58 (2.6)

2153 (97.4)

  Others ^b

176 (54.3)

148 (45.7)

59 (18.2)

265 (81.8)

 Children under 18-years-old

 < 0.001

0.040

  Yes

1398 (71.1)

569 (28.9)

69 (3.5)

1898 (96.5)

  No

2609 (45.8)

3083 (54.2)

262 (4.6)

5430 (95.4)

 Type of locality

 < 0.001

 < 0.001

  Metropolitan (≥ 100,000 inhabitants)

1749 (43.2)

2304 (56.8)

210 (5.2)

3843 (94.8)

  Urban (≥ 2,500 to 99,999 inhabitants)

1160 (58.0)

839 (42.0)

78 (3.9)

1921 (96.1)

  Rural (< 2,500 inhabitants)

1098 (68.3)

509 (31.7)

43 (2.7)

1564 (97.3)

 Socioeconomic status

 < 0.001

 < 0.001

  High

332 (32.2)

700 (67.8)

69 (6.7)

963 (93.3)

  Upper-middle

817 (39.9)

1231 (60.1)

95 (4.6)

1953 (95.4)

  Lower-middle

2279 (59.1)

1580 (40.9)

147 (3.8)

3712 (96.2)

  Low

579 (80.4)

141 (19.6)

20 (2.8)

700 (97.2)

 Household food security status ^c

 < 0.001

0.001

  Food security

2198 (41.5)

3103 (58.5)

208 (3.9)

5093 (96.1)

  Mild food insecurity

884 (71.3)

356 (28.7)

53 (4.3)

1187 (95.7)

  Moderate food insecurity

550 (80.9)

130 (19.1)

36 (5.3)

644 (94.7)

  Severe food insecurity

375 (85.6)

63 (14.4)

34 (7.8)

404 (92.2)