Food Insecurity Among College Students

What is Food Insecurity?

Food insecurity is defined as the limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate, safe, and acceptable foods that can be obtained in socially acceptable ways. College students struggling with food insecurity often have to deal with the physical and mental health issues that come along side it.

How Does Food Insecurity Affect Health?

Food-insecure students reported significantly higher perceived stress, disordered eating behaviors, and insufficient sleep when compared to food-secure students. There is a strong correlation between food-insecurity and poor 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."

Food insecurity commonly leads to inconsistent eating or intentional starvation as a way to prolong food supply. Food-insecure students have developed unhealthy eating habits such as 'feast or famine' where they overeat when there is an abundance of food but refrain when there is limited supply. These behaviors tend to lead to more serious issues including binge eating, fasting, and overall psychological stress.

How Does Food Insecurity Affect Academics?

Food-insecure students are twice as likely to be at risk of having a GPA below 3.0 when compared to food-secure students. When individuals are already struggling with fatigue, anxiety, stress, sleep deprivation, and physical weakness, their ability to concentrate and succeed in their classes is decreased drastically. A students ability to concentrate is inversely related to food insecurity. If college campuses wish to improve the academic performance of their students, they must provide the appropriate resources.

"Food-insecure students are at increased risk of adverse health and academic outcomes, the effects of which may impact student retention and health behaviors beyond the college years"

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References

El Zein, Aseel, et al. "Prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among US college students: a multi-institutional study." BMC public health 19.1 (2019): 1-12.