Associations between campus climate perceptions and food insecurity among undergraduates at a public university

Abstract

Objective: Food-insecure college students have expressed frustration toward their academic institution for failing to meet students’ needs. However, it is unclear whether campus climate perceptions are related to food insecurity status. We examined the association between campus climate surrounding health and food insecurity status among college students. Participants: Participants were undergraduate students (n = 1378) enrolled at a public university. Methods: We used secondary data from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II (ACHA-NCHA-II) with campus-specific measures of campus climate and food insecurity status. Results: Findings showed that students with less favorable views of campus climate were between 1.85 and 1.74 times more likely to be food insecure, even after adjusting for demographics and financial hardship. Conclusions: Future research is needed to better understand how students’ campus climate perceptions can inform programs that effectively address food insecurity on college campuses.