The importance of precision: differences in characteristics associated with levels of food security among college students

摘要

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of high, marginal, low and very low food security among a sample of college students and identify characteristics associated with the four different food security status levels and note differences in associations from when food security status is classified as food-secure v. food-insecure. Design: Cross-sectional online survey. Setting: A large public university in North Carolina. Participants: 4829 college students who completed an online survey in October and November 2016. Results: Among study participants, 56 center dot 2 % experienced high, 21 center dot 6 % experienced marginal, 18 center dot 8 % experienced low and 3 center dot 4 % experienced very low food security. Characteristics significantly associated with food security status when using the four-level variable but not two-level variable were age, international student status and weight status. Characteristics that significantly differed between the marginal and high food security groups included age, race/ethnicity, year in school, international student status, employment status, financial aid receipt, perceived health rating, cooking frequency and participation in an on-campus meal plan. Characteristics with differences in significant associations between the low and very low food security groups were gender, international student status, having a car, weight status and participation in an on-campus meal plan. Even where similarities in the direction of association were seen, there were often differences in magnitude. Conclusions: We found differences in characteristics associated with food security status when using the four-level v. two-level food security status variable. Future studies should look separately at the four levels, or at least consider separating the marginal and high food-secure groups.