The importance of precision: differences in characteristics associated with levels of food security among college students.

Abstract

To estimate the prevalence of high, marginal, low and very low food security among a sample of college students and identify characteristics associated with the four different food security status levels and note differences in associations from when food security status is classified as food-secure v. food-insecure. Cross-sectional online survey. A large public university in North Carolina. 4829 college students who completed an online survey in October and November 2016. Among study participants, 56·2% experienced high, 21·6% experienced marginal, 18·8% experienced low and 3·4% experienced very low food security. Characteristics significantly associated with food security status when using the four-level variable but not two-level variable were age, international student status and weight status. Characteristics that significantly differed between the marginal and high food security groups included age, race/ethnicity, year in school, international student status, employment status, financial aid receipt, perceived health rating, cooking frequency and participation in an on-campus meal plan. Characteristics with differences in significant associations between the low and very low food security groups were gender, international student status, having a car, weight status and participation in an on-campus meal plan. Even where similarities in the direction of association were seen, there were often differences in magnitude. We found differences in characteristics associated with food security status when using the four-level v. two-level food security status variable. Future studies should look separately at the four levels, or at least consider separating the marginal and high food-secure groups.