Food Insecurity College Students

Offering sufficient amounts of nutritious food in schools is more significant than many comprehend. Students who consume full, nourishing meals for breakfast and lunch benefit

Food insecurity is the “state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food,” according to the Oxford Dictionary. It is a widespread problem on college campuses across the nation. While food insecurity only impacts 14% of households, 48% of college students claim to be food insecure. This problem disproportionately impacts first generation college students, students of color, and students who need financial aid, as noted by the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness.

Perhaps the biggest factor that causes students to gain weight is the adjustment from eating at home to eating at college. A student from Chicago State University wrote in the school paper that, “Students in their first year away from home are sometimes not experienced in choosing foods or balanced meals” (French). The free-for-all campus style eating allows for unlimited choices of food and no parents to tell students what they can or cannot eat. Dietitian Ann Litt is also quoted in a Washington Post article in stating that, “the all you can eat concept in most college food services is an invitation overeat” (Linder). College dining halls are set up like fast food restaurants, and some even contain a McDonalds or a Pizza Hut. Fast food style eating really has no nutritional value, other than lots of fat and calories. In an article which examined the ways which students eat nutritional professor Christina Economos stated that more than fifty percent of students are eating too much fat, and seventy to eighty percent are getting too much saturated fat. She states that lack of fruit and vegetable consumption and the eating of mostly processed food is the main cause of weight gain among students (Linder). When students enter the dining hall they need to remind themselves that eating healthy is important.

In our course of study we have learned the difference between primary, secondary and tertiary prevention levels. Primary prevention is aimed at preventing or reducing the effects on populations. Primary prevention occurs when we educate our patients, families or the community, providing them with the tool of knowledge needed to prevent illness. My project on food insecurity promotes primary prevention in university students by attempting to identify those students experiencing food insecurity, then providing those students with the resources to obtaining supplemental food within their community.

Nutrition is crucial to keeping our body and the mind healthy, however, many people who struggle with stress, anxiety or depression tend to reach for food that eases them such as chips or fast food this is known to be “comfort food”. This food has a direct effect on students energy levels and interrupts them to perform well in their daily life. Moreover, there are many times when post-secondary students are load with so much on their plate that many don't feel the need to eat because they are too overwhelmed to eat or are not motivated too. Mental health is a prominent factor in a university student life which inability impacts their ability to perform a day-to-day task due to chronic

Food insecurity is defined as “the lack of access to enough food to ensure adequate nutrition.”1 The Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) reported that 14.6% of US households were food insecure during at least some portion of 2008 (up 11.1% from 2007), the highest levels recorded since monitoring began in 1995.2 Food insecurity is a concern of under consumption and obesity is a disease of over consumption, yet both outcomes may coexist, seemingly incongruously, within the same household.2 The most popular explanation is that low-cost, energy-dense foods linked to obesity are favored by financially constrained households, who are the most likely to be food insecure.2 Another theory, focusing on environmental context net of individual circumstance, argues that obesity and insecurity are both symptoms of malnutrition, occurring in neighborhoods where nutritious foods are unavailable or unaffordable.2 A separate literature researches environmental roles in poor nutritional outcomes, recent studies link obesity as well as atherosclerosis and diabetes to the food environment, the local context of available food items.2 The theory is that local inaccessibility to healthy foods influences diet composition, a claim supported by evidence.2 Especially in poorer neighborhoods, food options are often limited to fast food restaurants, convenience stores, or grocery stores more poorly stocked both in

Many colleges and universities have utilized the food pantry approach. Food pantries are easier for campuses to utilize because of the ability to be flexible with the services rendered (Dubick., et al., 2016). Students can utilize the services without having to travel far, they are also more apt to use the services because it is a college program, not a community or public program. Seventeen percent of food insecure students utilized a campus food pantry, while 14 percent reported going to an off-campus food pantry or food bank (Dubick., et al., 2016). Traditional students are more apt to reside on campus and be aware of the services offered to them through their institution, they will also have the means to use the services provided without having to travel off campus. The student’s ease of access to food programs on campuses may not ease food insecurity, there is no research that indicates whether food pantries are effective in alleviating food

Did you know in 2014, 48.1 million households in the United States were food insecure? (Feeding America, 2016) Additionally, household with children reported higher rates of food insecurity compared to households without children. According to new research, a great proportion of college students are suffering from food insecurity (Hughes et al., 2011; Patton-Lopez et al., 2014). According to the United States Department of Agriculture, food insecurity is defined by “the state of being without reliable access to sufficient quantity of affordable nutritious food” (2015). Since 2006, the USDA introduced new terms to categorize food insecurity ranges. Marginal food security is described as “anxiety over food sufficiency or shortage of food in the house. Little or no change in diet” (Gaines et al., n.d.). Low food security “reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet without reduced food intake. Very low food security “disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.”

Eating as a college student can have it shares of eating problems, healthy, deep fired, homemade and fast food. When in college, there is a moment when we are free of problems when suddenly one problem shows up with another one showing up few moments with a third one not far apart equaling not one, not two but three problems that need to be fixed. From one of those three problems is hunger because it’s common for people to be hungry anytime of the day. Eduardo Martinez’s interesting argument article “A college argument”, has an interested argument that its target audience is college students because for starters, it has the subject college within the title making it easy to whom it talks about.

Obesity has risen over the years. The United States now has one of the highest obesity rates. Bad eating habits are usually the cause of this pandemic. For the past few decades, college dorm foods have led to these habits. The more unhealthy food choices are, the harder it is for people to resist these foods. Colleges serve a variety of unhealthy food in their dining halls that contributes to students’ lower GPA. By eating healthier, students can maintain a healthy weight, focus better in school, and increase their school performance to a higher grade point average (GPA).

The World Health Organization defines good nutrition as an “adequate, well-balanced diet combined with regular physical activity” (World Health Organization, 2017). It is often difficult for a college student to maintain good nutrition due to a very limited income. An inadequate amount of time to exercise and prepare/eat meals also plays a role in a college student’s nutritional habits. Most college students toss good nutrition out the window and migrate towards foods that are easy to prepare and quick to eat. However, along with the convenience of these easy and quick types of food, come consequences as well. The food is usually extremely unhealthy which can lead to weight gain (Freshman 15) and other health

Food -- it is a necessity. There is not one person who does not think about it on a daily basis. For a college student, the quality of food available is not always to the highest of standards. Many students can not afford to buy expensive food or eat out on a regular basis. Many times their only option left is to eat from their school’s dining halls.

Food insecurity is one of the leading public health challenges in the United States today, since millions of people (children and adults) are food insecure because of insufficient money income and other socioeconomic and demographic factors. (Seligman, Kushel, & Laraia, 2010)

Bad eating habits was always a thing in time for the wealthy, but now we are seeing it the more common in the lower and middle class. As of today whether being male or female being over and underweight can struck them, but other factors also come into play such as what part of the United States a person is living in, because it may have a greater influence on them. Today in the United States overweight and obesity is becoming a bigger problem. Over half of the nation is said to be overweight, and a small percentage is said to be normal weight. As writing by Eric Pianin, “Only 35.6 percent of Americans are of “normal weight,” based on Gallup’s Body Mass Index calculations using self-reported survey data on height and weight.” The Fiscal Times, February 12th 2016, page 1. Hispanics

I am a 35-year-old student of Culinary Arts at Bermuda College and my wife is a nutritionist. Since both of us have professions associated with food, we tend to make healthy food