Abstract
Some researchers have proposed the prevalence of food insecurity among college students is high due to students’ meal plans providing insufficient meals. The association between college students’ food security status and their meal plans have not yet been examined. In this study, United States (US) first year college students (N = 534) self-reported their food security status in the Fall 2015 and/or Spring 2016 semester(s). Objective measures of students’ meal plans were obtained from the university. Logistic generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to determine if students’ meal plan, and meal plan use, predicted food insecurity. Linear GEEs were used to examine several potential reasons for lower meal plan use. We found that students did not use all of their available meals. Compared to students on the most expensive (unlimited) meal plan, students on the cheapest (8 meals/week) meal plan were the most likely to report food insecurity (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.2, 4.1). However, in the Fall semester, 26% of students on unlimited meal plans also reported food insecurity. For students on the 180 meals/semester meal plan, food insecurity was associated with using fewer meals (OR = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.8, 1.0). Students who worked tended to use their meal plan less (β = −1.3, 95% CI = −2.3, −0.3). Students are reporting food insecurity while having meals left in their meal plan.
Highlights
Food security is defined as access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life [1], whereas food insecurity indicates inconsistent access to healthy food
No bivariate association with food insecurity and meal plan was found in the Fall semester; the prevalence of food insecurity at the end of the Fall semester ranged from 41% of students on the cheapest meal plan to 26% of students on the unlimited meal plan (p = 0.135; Table 1)
Students’ food security at the end of the Spring semester was associated with students’ meal plan; the prevalence of food insecurity ranged from 47% of students on the cheapest meal plan to 11%
Summary
Food security is defined as access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life [1], whereas food insecurity indicates inconsistent access to healthy food. Students who report food insecurity are more likely to be financially independent from their family [15,19,20], to have debt [15], and to receive financial aid [17,19,20] than their food secure counterparts. It is unclear whether food insecure students tend to purchase less expensive meal plans than food secure students, and if food insecure students use their meal plan to a lesser (or greater)
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