Title:

Does food insecurity prevalence differ between first-generation and non-first-generation college students?

Objective: To assess differences in food insecurity prevalence between FG and non-FG college students at a public, northeastern university. Methods: Data were collected between Fall 2018-Spring 2021 from the College Health and Nutrition Assessment Survey, an ongoing, cross-sectional study conducted at a public northeastern university. Participants (18-24 years) were recruited from an introductory nutrition course and then completed an online questionnaire (Qualtrics). Food insecurity status was measured using the USDA Six-Item Short Form Food Security survey. A total food security score was calculated and used to categorize participants as high food security, marginal food security, low food security, or very low food security. Participants were then classified overall as either food secure or food insecure. First-generation (FG) status was self-reported by students and defined as neither parent completing 4 years of university. Differences in prevalence of food insecurity between FG and non-FG students were compared using chi-square test (p<.05). Results: Among all students (n=1202), 21.6% were classified as FG. Among FG students, 77.7% reported high or marginal food security, while 22.3% reported low or very low food security. Among non-FG students, 86.2% reported high or marginal food security, while 13.8% reported low or very low food security. There were significantly less FG than non-FG students in the high food security category. There were significantly more FG than non-FG students in the low food security and very low food security categories. Food insecurity was significantly higher among FG than non-FG students (22.3% vs. 13.8%, p<0.001) Conclusions: Approximately one in five FG students reported food insecurity. Prevalence of low food security and very low food security status was significantly higher among FG students than non-FG students. Future research related to use and perception of food access resources should target at-risk students including those who are FG status. Funding Sources: New Hampshire Agriculture Experiment Station and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch Project 1010738.

Name

Comment*

Comments are viewable only by submitter

Captcha*