A Qualitative Analysis of Eating Behaviors Among Food Insecure College Students

To explore (1) how the cycle of food availability impacts food insecure college students’ food-coping behaviors and (2) how access to a campus food pantry impacts food availability. Qualitative, semistructured one-on-one interviews via Zoom were transcribed verbatim. Three investigators performed co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of nutrition education and behavior Vol. 55; no. 7; pp. 531 - 540
Main Authors: Mooney, Grace, Drake, Teresa, Vollmer, Rachel L.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.07.2023
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
behavior
childhood
college students
eating behavior
energy
Feeding Behavior
food availability
Food Insecurity
food pantries
food pantry
food security
Food Supply
Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Humans
hunger
Illinois
Internal Medicine
nutrition education
qualitative analysis
resource management
Students
Universities
Illinois
food pantry
eating behavior
food insecurity
college students
ISSN:1499-4046, 1878-2620, 1878-2620
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:To explore (1) how the cycle of food availability impacts food insecure college students’ food-coping behaviors and (2) how access to a campus food pantry impacts food availability. Qualitative, semistructured one-on-one interviews via Zoom were transcribed verbatim. Three investigators performed content analysis to identify and compare themes among participants with and without access to a campus food pantry. Forty undergraduate students from Illinois 4-year institutions with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) campus food pantries discussed similar experiences related to their food situation, eating behaviors, and use of resources, resulting in 7 themes: unique challenges of the college environment, childhood experiences, the impact of food insecurity, mental energy, the spectrum of resource management, structural barriers, and hiding hunger. Food insecure students may use coping mechanisms to manage food and resources. The existence of a campus food pantry alone is insufficient to meet the needs of these students. Universities could consider providing additional support (ie, free meals), advertising available resources, or integrating food insecurity screening into other established processes.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1499-4046
1878-2620
1878-2620
DOI:10.1016/j.jneb.2023.04.009