The Relationship Between Food Insecurity Among Community College Students

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.

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.

Traditional students who are childless, reside on campus, and are enrolled in a meal plan are essentially either ineligible or find it very difficult to attain SNAP benefits. While traditional students may not have the financial expenses that a non-traditional student might have, they are deprived of assistance from the only federal program that benefits childless adults. When doing this study, the factors previously noted, led to the belief that a student’s classification may be a determining factor on how prone they are to be food insecure, with traditional being more food insecure than

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.”

Food insecurity is a determent to health that has become more prevalent in low-income areas of the country. Food security is an important aspect of public health in which greater evidence is showing that food insecurity as a direct link to poor health. Food insecurity can be define as “the inability to acquire or consume and adequate diet quality or sufficient quantity of

Various reports and research have attested to this phenomena (Food Research Action Center, 2015). Both hunger and obesity were defined using USDA terminology: Low food insecurity- Households reduced the quality, variety, and desirability of their diets, but the quantity of food intake and normal eating patterns were not substantially disrupted. High food insecurity- At times during the year, eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted and food intake reduced because the household lacked money and other resources for food (USDA, 2006). Obesity, as having a body mass index over 30, results from factors such as genetics, lifestyle, and access to food (USDA, National Institute of Food and Nutrition, 2015). The target group was identified as school aged

Heflin, Corcoran, & Siefert examine variation in food insecurity among low-income populations and suggest food insecurity operates through three mechanisms: (1) individual constraints on coping abilities, (2) demands, and (3) resources (2007). A significant body of literature on food security

This is further compounded by income, as studies show that 33% of adults earning less than $15,000 per year are obese, as compared to 25.4% of those who make a minimum of $50,000 annually. This number continues to decrease as income levels increase even further. In 1995 the US Department of Agriculture first defined “food insecurity” as having, “limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally acceptable or safe foods.” A survey asking the general public if they would consider themselves victims of food insecurity resulted in 11.9% of families in the United States defining their status as “food insecure”. However, food insecurity does not pertain to hunger; it is about access to healthy foods. This is reinforced by the same survey, wherein the USDA also found 65% of families that were food insecure were not suffering from

Food insecurity causes health issues such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and early mortality among young single mothers. According to author Christine A. Stevens young single mothers are affected by food insecurity in two ways “first, the stress of food insecurity can lead to compounding issues of depression for this mother, second, food choice.” Factors that assist these problems are socioeconomic status and the ability to obtain adequate nutrition. These young single mothers do not have enough money to give nutritional food to their families. With limited money they do not have a choice for nutritional food and according to Stevens are forced to buy “inexpensive, high fat, high carbohydrates food” (Stevens 163). In

Having bad eating habits can cause vastly eating disorders and illnesses. Students attending college that do not eat right are most likely to conceive an illness or become overweight. “An unhealthy diet is a major risk factor for becoming overweight and obese,” (McNight). Freshman 15 is most likely to get to the students that have This is something to think about when it comes to meal plans. The majority of the meal plans offered at any college are high in fats and calories. By consuming all of these foods you are more likely to having this problem.

Philadelphia is the city of the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall among other sights. Yet to the most prevalent characteristics of the area is food insecurity. Poverty is a landmark of any city. Also a landmark is the inability to know here the next meal is coming from known as food insecurity. One may assume that Philadelphian college students do not face the dilemma, but, many face this every day. It has become important to the Philadelphia society and population. This needs to be addressed because it affects students’ expectations, healthy food access and it will be easier to investigate solutions.

An estimated 12.3 percent of American households were food insecure at least sometime during the year in 2016 (Coleman-Jensen, Rabbitt, Gregory, & Singh, 2018). In a paper titled “Assessing Food Insecurity on Campus written by Blagg, Gundersen, Schanzenbach, & Ziliak a study was done to understand food insecurity among college students enrolled in a two-year college, four-year college and vocational education. The findings indicated that “food insecurity for households with students enrolled in two-year colleges was 13.3 percent. This is an indication that nearly one in five two-year College students were identified as food insecure. By contrast, for households with students attending four-year colleges, the rate of food insecurity rate

As tuition and the accompanying expenses and rise so do the rates of food insecurity on college campuses. In a study of 410 students was conducted at the University of Hawai’i at Ma¯noa in Honolulu, Hawai’i to evaluate food insecurity. The results exhibited 21 percent, approximately 86 out of 410, of students qualified to be food insecure with 24 percent, 98 out of 410 being at risk for food insecurity (Chaparro, Zaghloul, Holck, and Dobbs). It was also reported that out of the 410, only eight students used food stamps (Chaparro, Zaghloul, Holck, and Dobbs). This is reflective of most U.S. college campuses including that of Arizona State University, with food insecurity of 34 percent, 14 percent at the University of Alabama, and 24 percent

The Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest translates well to the college world. While living on my own, many of my long-dormant, carnivorous instincts kicked in. A trip to the local superstore meant that my pantry was well stocked, but replenishing it was another matter. I soon found myself planted firmly in a regimen of boxed noodles, frozen pizza, and TV dinners. While not the healthiest of diets, they did allow me enough carbohydrates to make it through twelve hours of classes.

Food Insecurity is defined as access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life, and at a minimum includes the following: the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods and the assured ability to acquire personally acceptable foods in a socially acceptable way, qualified by their involuntariness and periodicity. Even though food insecurity affects everyone in the household, it may also affect them differently. Food insecurity mostly exists whenever food security is limited. Uncertain or limited availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods results chronic diseases psychological, and suicidal syndrome (Cook & Frank, 2008)