Perceived Hunger in College Students Related to Academic and Athletic Performance

Amanda Hickey,Margaret Henning,Dena Shields

doi:10.3390/educsci9030242

Amanda Hickey, Margaret Henning + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030242

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Journal: Education sciences	Publication Date: Sep 18, 2019
Citations: 9	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Keene State College

Abstract

The current study examines perceived hunger, which may result from food insecurity, and its effect on academic and athletic performance in students on a liberal arts college campus in New Hampshire. It also examines how students compensate for hunger and their preferences for different types of resources to address hunger. A review of the literature on food insecurity in college students informed the development of a questionnaire on hunger. A mixed-method approach was used to collect qualitative/quantitative data from students of different disciplines. Three hundred and seventy-one students had complete surveys. Thirty-six percent and 34% of students reported that their academic and/or athletic performance, respectively, had been affected by hunger. Forty-seven percent of students responded they would consider taking advantage of an on-campus food pantry. In an open-ended question, students reported concerns about the social stigma related to economic instability and utilizing a food pantry. Our research findings support many on-campus initiatives including the creation of a student-run on-campus food pantry, longer dining common hours, a Swipe It Forward program, and the creation of a task force to address food insecurity on campus and to work with college systems to develop opportunities to better serve students at the college.

Highlights

Food insecurity is a social condition in which access to adequate food may be limited or uncertain at times during the year [1]
To determine the proportion of students whose athletic performance was affected by hunger, the following survey question was utilized, “Has hunger affected your ability to participate in practice or games or perform as well as an athlete?” Similar to academic performance, we considered students who responded
Hunger is an issue affecting academic and athletic performance, as reported by other studies that have focused on food insecurity rather than hunger [10,11]

Summary

Introduction

Food insecurity is a social condition in which access to adequate food may be limited or uncertain at times during the year [1]. This issue is emerging as a new public health concern among college students. New evidence demonstrates that food insecurity in college students is higher than in US national households [2]. This is a concern, as food insecurity has consistently been linked to poorer physical (e.g., obesity and diabetes) and mental health outcomes (e.g., anxiety and depression) across the lifespan [3].

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