Determinants of food insecurity in undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students at a U.S. university
Creators: name: Huamani Jimenez, Oscar
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2022

description: Food insecurity among U.S. undergraduate college students has been well studied and is consistently found to be higher than the national prevalence. However, less is known about food insecurity among graduate students. To date, only two studies have looked specifically at food insecurity in graduate students, while most have focused on undergraduate students or combined graduate and undergraduate students in their analyses. This study aims to further explore whether the prevalence of food insecurity differs among students at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels and to identify risk factors for food insecurity within each student population.This thesis includes a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 2019 at Rutgers-New Brunswick, a large public university in the northeastern US. Students had to enter their university identification number to gain access to the survey, and some demographic data was linked from an institutional database. Additional demographic and socioeconomic data were including in the survey instrument. The 18-item USDA Household Food Security Survey Module was used to measure food insecurity over the past 30 days. Separate multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted among undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students to examine the relationship of food insecurity with age, sex, race/ethnicity, first generation college students, loans, financial aid, and LGBTQ+. A total of 5063 students responded to the survey, including undergraduates (n=5017), master’s students (n=581) and doctoral students (n=282). The highest levels of food insecurity were found in master’s (32.2%) and undergraduate students (31.4%), with approximately 1 in 3 students reporting experiencing food insecurity over the past 30 days. Food insecurity was significantly lower at the doctoral level (21.6%), with approximately 1 in 5 students reporting experiencing food insecurity over the past 30 days. Among undergraduates, risk factors of food insecurity included being older (OR=1.08 [95% CI 1.05 – 1.10]), Black (OR= 1.94 [95% CI [1.40 – 2.67]), Hispanic (OR=1.36, [95% CI 1.08 – 1.71]), international (OR=1.89 [95% CI 1.40 – 2.73]), LGBTQ+ (OR= 1.40 [95% CI 1.15 – 1.68]), first-generation college student (OR=1.52, [95% CI 1.30 – 1.79]) and having loans (OR=1.72 [95% CI [1.48 – 2.01]). Among master’s students, being Black (OR=3.20 [95% CI 1.68 – 6.08]) and having loans (OR=2.46 [95% CI 1.61 – 3.76]) increased food insecurity risk, while being older decreased the risk of being food insecure (OR=0.96 [95% CI 0.93 – 0.99]). In doctoral students, risk factors included having loans (OR=3.40 [95% CI 1.17 – 9.87]) and being a first-generation college student (OR=2.9 [95% CI 1.55 – 5.47]).This thesis found that food insecurity prevalence among post-secondary students varies by level of study. Specifically, doctoral students reported significantly lower levels of food insecurity than undergraduates and master’s students. Socioeconomic determinants of food insecurity differ between undergraduates, master’s, and doctoral students, with having loans being the one risk factor that was significantly related to food insecurity at every level of study. Implications for further research as well as recommendations for public health approaches to food insecurity in the undergraduate and graduate student populations are further discussed.