Title:

What are the areas of dietary concern among first- generation college students with food insecurity?

Background: The USDA reports first generation (FG) college students’ prevalence of food insecurity (FI) is 15.7% higher than their non- FG counterparts. With most Americans failing to meet nutrient recommendations, more research is needed to understand FG status on FI and nutrient intake. Objective: To explore the relationship between FG status, FI, and intake of five nutrients of concern (NOC) (calcium, potassium, dietary fiber, iron, and vitamin D) among college students attending a public, northeastern university. Study Design, Settings, Participants: A convenience sample of students, 18-24 years old, were recruited between 2018-2022 from the cross-sectional College Health and Nutrition Assessment Survey. The final sample (n=1758) was 62.8% female, 95.5% Caucasian and mean age was (191.11). Measurable Outcome/ Analysis: Participants self-reported FI and parents’ education level via Qualtrics. FI was categorized using USDA scoring guidelines; FG status was defined as neither parent completing 4 years of university. Diet and Wellness+ collected self-reported 3-day intakes of NOC, and SPSS compared NOC to RDAs. ANCOVA analyzed frequencies of RDAs met for the 5 NOC between FG, FI students and non-FG, non-FI students. Results: Overall, 21.1% (n=437) of students classified as FG and 15.4% (n=311) of students reported FI. The majority (n=755, 42.9%) failed to meet the recommendation of all 5 NOC. Recommendations for calcium, potassium, dietary fiber, iron and vitamin D were met by 24.7%, 22.6%, 13.2%, 42.1%, 1.9% of students. FG students faced higher rates of FI compared to non-FG students (20.8 vs. 14.0%, p<.001). No differences in the mean number of NOCs met were found between FI and non-FI FG students (0.90.1 vs 1.00.1 p=.18), nor was it different between FI and non-FI students (1.1.03 vs. 1.1 .08 p=.56) Conclusions: Data suggest college students are lacking in many NOC, regardless of FG-status. Consistent with others, FG students were more likely to report FI. More research is needed to identify solutions to improve the diets of college students and reduce the prevalence of food insecurity on campus. Funding Statement: Funded by New Hampshire Agriculture Experiment Station, USDA NIFA project 1010738, and the state of NH.

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