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. 2018 Jan 18;15(1):9.
doi: 10.1186/s12966-018-0647-7.

Hungry to learn: the prevalence and effects of food insecurity on health behaviors and outcomes over time among a diverse sample of university freshmen

Meg Bruening  1 , Irene van Woerden  2 , Michael Todd  3 , Melissa N Laska  4
Affiliations

Hungry to learn: the prevalence and effects of food insecurity on health behaviors and outcomes over time among a diverse sample of university freshmen

Meg Bruening et al. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. .

Abstract

Background: To examine longitudinal associations between food insecurity (FI) and health behaviors/outcomes among a diverse sample of university freshmen.

Methods: Freshman students (n = 1138; 65% female; 49% non-white) participating in the Social impact of Physical Activity and nutRition in College study completed surveys on health behaviors and had height/weight measured up to 4 times (T1-T4) in Arizona during 2015-2016. Structural equation models were estimated to determine if, after adjusting for covariates, FI predicted concurrent behaviors/outcomes and subsequent behaviors/outcomes. Analyses reported here were conducted in 2017.

Results: The prevalence of FI was significantly higher at the end of each semester (35% and 36%, respectively) than at the start of the year (28%). Longitudinally, FI was not related to any health behaviors/outcomes at future time points. However, FI was significantly and inversely associated with concurrent breakfast consumption on most days of the week (OR = 0.67, 99% CI = 0.46, 0.99), daily evening meal consumption (OR = 0.55, 99% CI = 0.36, 0.86) healthy eating habits on campus (OR = 0.68, 99% CI = 0.46, 1.00), healthy physical activity habits on campus (OR = 0.66, 99% CI = 0.44, 1.00), and positively related to the likelihood of experiencing stress (OR = 1.69, 99% CI = 1.16, 2.46) and depressed mood (OR = 1.98, 99% CI = 1.34, 2.91).

Conclusions: Compared with US prevalence rates, the sample FI prevalence was high. FI was related to poorer eating patterns, physical activity behaviors, and mental health, even after adjusting for prior levels of behavior.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All study protocols were approved by the Arizona State University Institutional Review Board. Informed written consent from all participants was obtained.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Structural equation models used to determine how previous and concurrent food insecurity (FI) were related to the reported health behaviors and outcomes (HB) across times 1 (T1), 2 (T2), 3 (T3), and 4 (T4) among college freshmen in Phoenix, AZ metro during 2015–2016 academic year. T1 food insecurity and T1 health behavior and outcomes were set to covary. Paths to T2, T3, and T4 health behavior and outcomes were adjusted for gender, race/ethnicity, Pell grant status, and residence hall
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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