Food Insecurity and Dietary Intake among College Students with Unlimited Meal Plans at a Large, Midwestern University

Background Food insecurity, a state of not being able to consistently access nutritious food due to financial constraints, has been associated with poor dietary intake among college students. The extent to which campus food resources contribute to this association is unknown. Objectives This study examined the association between food insecurity and dietary intake in a sample of undergraduate students with unlimited meal plans and dining hall access at a large, public Midwestern university. Design The study design is cross-sectional. The data used are baseline data from a broader sugar-sweetened beverage intervention study that were collected using a Qualtrics survey prior to the intervention. Participants/setting The sample consisted of 1033 undergraduate students recruited from 3 dining halls. The data were collected in November 2018. Main outcome measures Food security was assessed using the 6-item Short Form Food Security Survey Module. Dietary intake was assessed using the National Cancer Institute 26-item Dietary Screener Questionnaire and the Beverage Intake Questionnaire-15. Statistical analyses performed Generalized linear regression models were used to examine differences in dietary intake by students' food security status, adjusting for students' sociodemographic characteristics. Results In the sample, 14% of students were food-insecure. After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, food-insecure students reported 9% lower intake of fruits (P = 0.02), 9% lower intake of vegetables (P < 0.001), 10% higher intake of dairy (P = 0.002), 6% higher intake of total added sugars (P = 0.01), 10% higher intake of added sugars from sugar-sweetened beverages (P = 0.01), 4% higher intake of calcium (P = 0.01), and 4% lower intake of fiber (P = 0.01) compared with food-secure students. With respect to beverage intake, food-insecure students had 56% higher intake of total sugar-sweetened beverages (P = 0.002), which was driven by 185% higher intake of energy and sports drinks (P = 0.001), and 121% higher intake of sweetened teas (P = 0.001). Conclusions Despite having identical food resources within campus dining halls, there were significant differences in the diets of college students by food security status.

Automated summary

This study found that food-insecure college students with unlimited meal plans and dining hall access had lower intake of fruits and vegetables, but higher intake of dairy and added sugars compared to food-secure students. Despite having identical food resources within campus dining halls, significant differences in the diets of college students by food security status were observed.