Dietary behaviors and food insecurity among Houston college students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on college students’ nutrition, including dietary behaviors and food security status. Participants: Participants included 140 students between 18 and 25 years of age, who were enrolled in a college or university in the greater Houston area. Methods: Analyses included descriptive statistics, t tests, and ANOVAs to analyze differences in dietary behaviors by demographic variables, and chi-square tests to assess characteristics associated with food security status. Results: The majority of participants reported changing their diets due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were no significant differences by demographics. However, there were significant differences in food security status by race/ethnicity and social class. Conclusion: This study identified changes and disparities in college students’ dietary behaviors and food security status during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings help inform future policy, programs, and research to address college students’ nutrition during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

• College students
• COVID-19
• dietary behaviors
• food insecurity

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank all the staff and faculty who distributed the C-SPANES survey and all the students who participated.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board at Rice University.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, CSD, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.