College Student Perceptions and Utilization of Food and Nutrition Resources on Campus: Study Protocol

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Food and nutrition are important to college student success and well being, yet little work has been done to characterize food and nutrition environments on college campuses regarding how students utilize food and nutrition resources, barriers and facilitators to accessing and consuming a healthy diet, and what students value in a campus food system, such as sustainability. The objective of this pilot study is to characterize the food and nutrition environment on the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) campus, specifically by: Measuring the prevalence of food insecurity on the UAA campus Determining barriers and facilitators to accessing and consuming a healthy diet on campus Analyzing the relationship between food insecurity and indicators of student success and health Assessing the importance of sustainable campus food systems to UAA students Methods Phase 1: Focus Groups. Students utilizing a free meal service at UAA (the Daily Den) will be recruited to participate in one of two focus groups (target sample size n = 20) to explore how students use the food and nutrition services on campus, barriers and facilitators they experience in accessing and consuming a healthy diet, and what they value in a campus food system. Grounded theory will be used to determine common themes and guide the development of survey questions. Phase 2: Survey. A survey will be administered to a convenience sample of Daily Den clients (target sample size n = 60) to collect information on demographics, indicators of student success (i.e., GPA), indicators of health (i.e., BMI), the US Household Food Security Survey, and questions determined from Phase 1. Survey data will be analyzed to determine the prevalence of food insecurity on campus, the barriers/facilitators to accessing and consuming a healthy diet, and how each may be associated with indicators of student success and health. Importance of sustainable food systems to students will also be assessed. Results N/A (study protocol) Conclusions Understanding how college students perceive and utilize food and nutrition services available to them on campus will provide valuable insight into addressing food insecurity and sustainability on college campuses. Results from this study will be used to inform the future of food and nutrition services at UAA. Funding Sources None.