Study Finds High Level Of Food Insecurity Among Students

Oregon State University has set up a "Food Pantry " program that disburses community-donated food to assist students who have inadequate food supplies. Photo Courtesy: (Photo by Larry Pribyl, courtesy Oregon State University) 

A recent study by researchers from the Oregon State University, the Benton County Health Department, and Western Oregon University has found that a whopping 59 percent of college students at one Oregon university were at some point in the previous year were "food insecure" with several implications including academic success, physical and emotional health and other issues. The findings of the study appear in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior   

These findings were based on a survey of 354 students at Western Oregon University, a mid-size public university in a small town near the state capitol in Salem, Ore. Students at Western Oregon supported and assisted in this research, and Doris Cancel-Tirado and Leticia Vazquez with Western Oregon co-authored the study.

In others words, concerns about obesity is not the entire truth. A large part of the truth is that many students do not get enough healthy food to eat as they face the challenges of costs, income, and unevenly distributed food and social support systems. The study surveyed the students at Western Oregon.

"Based on other research that's been done, we expected some amount of food concerns among college students," said Daniel López-Cevallos, associate director of research at OSU's Center for Latino/a Studies and Engagement. "But it was shocking to find food insecurity of this severity. Several recent trends may be combining to cause this."

Several factors including rising college costs, more low-income and first-generation students attending college, and changing demographic trends in combination have significant implications for the study. 

"For past generations, students living on a lean budget might have just considered it part of the college experience, a transitory thing," said Megan Patton-López, lead author of the study with Oregon's Benton County Health Department.

"But rising costs of education are now affecting more people," she said. "And for many of these students who are coming from low-income families and attending college for the first time, this may be a continuation of food insecurity they've known before. It becomes a way of life, and they don't have as many resources to help them out."

The study found that many students may not have enough money for healthy food at all times despite the fact that many of them work one or more jobs. The financial demands could be draining their meager resources. In addition, most college students are not eligible for food stamps and many among them already carry heavy debt load. 

Food insecurity means uncertain or limited availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods in addition to the ability to acquire such food in acceptable ways. Food insecurity is associated with depression, stress, poor health and the trouble learning in the classroom. 

When food insecurity issues were addressed among elementary school students, improvements were seen in academic performance, behavior and retention of knowledge. However, these problems have received no attention among 19-24 year old demographic, a population that predominates in college, according to researchers. 

According to the findings of the study:

• While about 14.9 percent of all households in the nation report food insecurity, the number of college students voicing similar concerns in this report was almost four times higher, at 59 percent.
  
• In the past three decades the cost of higher education has steadily outpaced inflation, the cost of living and medical expenses.
  
• Food insecurity during college years could affect cognitive, academic and psychosocial development.
  
• Factors correlated with reports of food insecurity include fair to poor health, a lower grade point average, low income and employment.

Employment, by itself, is not adequate to resolve this problem, the researchers found. Students reporting food insecurity also worked an average of 18 hours a week – some as high as 42 – but the financial demands they faced more than offset that income.

The findings probably reflect similar concerns at colleges and universities across the nation, the researchers said, although more research is needed in many areas to determine the full scope of this problem.

"One thing that's clear is that colleges and universities need to be having this conversation and learning more about the issues their students may be facing," said López-Cevallos. "There may be steps to take locally that could help, and policies that could be considered nationally. But it does appear this is a very serious issue that has not received adequate attention, and we need to explore it further."