Characteristics associated with changes in food security status among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The prevalence of food insecurity in the USA has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, past studies have not examined how the food security status of college students has been impacted. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the prevalence of food insecurity; determine the proportion of students experiencing a change in food security status; and identify characteristics associated with changes in food security status from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic among a sample of college students. We administered a cross-sectional online survey to students from a large public university in the Southeastern USA. The 10-item U.S. Adult Food Security Module was used to assess food security status during the spring 2020 semester both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and students self-reported a variety of individual characteristics. The overall prevalence of food insecurity increased by approximately one-third during the spring 2020 semester from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. When examining the types of changes in food security status experienced by students, 12% improved, 68% stayed the same, and 20% worsened. A variety of characteristics were associated with an improvement or worsening of food security status category from before to during the pandemic. Similar to what is seen in other reports, we found that the overall proportion of college students in our sample experiencing food insecurity increased during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, some students showed improvements in food security status. Approaches for addressing food insecurity during and beyond the pandemic are needed.

Barriers and facilitators to achieving food security during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…This finding supports prior findings on food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Karpman et al, 2020a ). In contrast, race was not associated with food insecurity in either study, conflicting previous findings that people of color tend to be at a greater risk of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Karpman et al, 2020a , Karpman et al, 2020b , Owens et al, 2020 , Schanzenbach and Pitts, 2020 , Waxman et al, 2020 , Wolfson and Leung, 2020 ) and after controlling for socioeconomic status ( Myers and Painter, 2017 , Soldavini et al, 2021 ). This surprising finding may be due to the overshadowing effect of financial struggles as a large predictor of food insecurity.…”

‘Spending all this time stressing and worrying and calculating’: marginal food security and student life at a Diverse Urban University

“…A basic needs report of the California State University system estimated that 22·4 % of the student body is marginally food secure (1) , defined as having ‘…problems at times, or anxiety about, accessing adequate food, but the quality, variety and quantity of their food intake were not substantially reduced’ (2) . Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, some studies have indicated that food security has decreased by as much as a third among college students (3,4) . Recently, research has found positive associations between marginal food security and depression, BMI, less cooking and food agency, worse perceived health and lower grade point averages among college students (5–7) .…”

The Impact of Nutrition on the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Nutrition

“…The nutritional response to the pandemic has been quite different in Europe and North America. In the US, the prevalence of food insecurity increased by one third from before to during the pandemic [ 54 , 55 ]. Even in the USA, disadvantaged communities have shown signs of severe food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 56 ].…”

“…Even in the USA, disadvantaged communities have shown signs of severe food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 56 ]. This appears to have been experienced across a wide age range of adults, from college students to the elderly [ 54 ].…”

“…These changes in dietary habits have important implications for the health impact of the pandemic. In countries across the world that had COVID-19 disease statistics collected by the WHO, infection and mortality rates due to COVID-19 were positively correlated with higher intake of fruits and sugar-sweetened beverages and negatively correlated with bean and legume consumption [ 54 ].…”