Cargando…

Predictors of Food Insecurity among Australian University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Food insecurity is much higher among university students than the general population, and is linked with poorer mental health, diet and academic achievement. The aim of this study was to explore the level of food insecurity among a sample of Australian university students and determine which socio-d...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Whatnall, Megan C., Hutchesson, Melinda J., Patterson, Amanda J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6981948/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31861750
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010060
_version_ 1783491201261895680
author Whatnall, Megan C.
Hutchesson, Melinda J.
Patterson, Amanda J.
author_facet Whatnall, Megan C.
Hutchesson, Melinda J.
Patterson, Amanda J.
author_sort Whatnall, Megan C.
collection PubMed
description Food insecurity is much higher among university students than the general population, and is linked with poorer mental health, diet and academic achievement. The aim of this study was to explore the level of food insecurity among a sample of Australian university students and determine which socio-demographic and student characteristics predict food insecurity. An online cross-sectional survey with students from the University of Newcastle, Australia was conducted in 2017–2018. Food insecurity was assessed using the 6-item US Department of Agriculture Food Security Survey Module, and socio-demographic (e.g., age, living situation) and student characteristics (e.g., undergraduate/postgraduate student) were captured. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the odds of food insecurity for each of the socio-demographic and student characteristics, and included characteristics of significance in bivariate analyses as potential confounders. Data for 366 students were analysed (mean age 27.3 ± 10.4 years, 27.3% male). Forty-eight percent of participants were food insecure. The odds of food insecurity were higher among students living in rental accommodation compared with their parents’ home (OR = 2.39, 95% CI 1.41, 4.06), and undergraduate compared with postgraduate students (OR = 3.50, 95% CI 1.83, 6.69). Commencing university and moving away from parents may be key times for intervention. Strategies that can provide longstanding benefit are needed to address the high level of food insecurity among university students.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6981948
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-69819482020-02-07 Predictors of Food Insecurity among Australian University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study Whatnall, Megan C. Hutchesson, Melinda J. Patterson, Amanda J. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Food insecurity is much higher among university students than the general population, and is linked with poorer mental health, diet and academic achievement. The aim of this study was to explore the level of food insecurity among a sample of Australian university students and determine which socio-demographic and student characteristics predict food insecurity. An online cross-sectional survey with students from the University of Newcastle, Australia was conducted in 2017–2018. Food insecurity was assessed using the 6-item US Department of Agriculture Food Security Survey Module, and socio-demographic (e.g., age, living situation) and student characteristics (e.g., undergraduate/postgraduate student) were captured. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the odds of food insecurity for each of the socio-demographic and student characteristics, and included characteristics of significance in bivariate analyses as potential confounders. Data for 366 students were analysed (mean age 27.3 ± 10.4 years, 27.3% male). Forty-eight percent of participants were food insecure. The odds of food insecurity were higher among students living in rental accommodation compared with their parents’ home (OR = 2.39, 95% CI 1.41, 4.06), and undergraduate compared with postgraduate students (OR = 3.50, 95% CI 1.83, 6.69). Commencing university and moving away from parents may be key times for intervention. Strategies that can provide longstanding benefit are needed to address the high level of food insecurity among university students. MDPI 2019-12-19 2020-01 /pmc/articles/PMC6981948/ /pubmed/31861750 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010060 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Whatnall, Megan C.
Hutchesson, Melinda J.
Patterson, Amanda J.
Predictors of Food Insecurity among Australian University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
title Predictors of Food Insecurity among Australian University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full Predictors of Food Insecurity among Australian University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_fullStr Predictors of Food Insecurity among Australian University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full_unstemmed Predictors of Food Insecurity among Australian University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_short Predictors of Food Insecurity among Australian University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_sort predictors of food insecurity among australian university students: a cross-sectional study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6981948/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31861750
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010060
work_keys_str_mv AT whatnallmeganc predictorsoffoodinsecurityamongaustralianuniversitystudentsacrosssectionalstudy
AT hutchessonmelindaj predictorsoffoodinsecurityamongaustralianuniversitystudentsacrosssectionalstudy
AT pattersonamandaj predictorsoffoodinsecurityamongaustralianuniversitystudentsacrosssectionalstudy