Abstract
Objectives
To measure prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among college students in
Appalachia, compare food-insecure and food-secure students on correlates, and identify
predictor variables.
Design
Cross-sectional, online questionnaire.
Setting
University in Appalachia.
Participants
Nonprobability, random sample of 1,093 students (317 male [30.1%]; 723 females [68.4%]).
Main Outcome Measures
Food insecurity, coping strategies, money expenditure, academic progress, and demographics.
Analysis
Correlational, chi-square, and regression.
Results
A total of 239 students experienced low food security (21.9%) whereas 266 had experienced
very low food security (24.3%) in the past 12 months. Predictor variables were higher
money expenditure and coping strategy scale scores, lower grade point averages, male
gender, receiving financial aid, fair or poor self-rated health status, and never
cooking for self or others. These variables accounted for 48.1% of variance in food
security scores. Most frequently used coping strategies included purchasing cheap,
processed food (n = 282; 57.4%), stretching food (n = 199; 40.5%), and eating less
healthy meals to eat more (n = 174; 35.4%).
Conclusions and Implications
Food-insecure students need interventions that teach budgeting skills and how to purchase
and prepare healthy foods, as well as policies that increase access to food resource
assistance.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 12, 2017
Accepted:
October 20,
2017
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
