UC Davis

Food insecurity on college campuses is a pervasive problem affecting nearly half of students in the US. Several factors were explored relating to the food security landscape on college campuses, comprising examinations of food security and knowledge, attitudes, and participation in available resources, student food choice motivation, and the impacts of resources on student academic performance. The approach taken was to use a combination of validated questionnaires which asked college students about their experiences using Likert-scales and binary items.The first study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) surrounding CalFresh in college students. Using a combination of a content-validated questionnaire and the USDA’s 10-item Adult Food Security Survey Module, participants were asked about their food security status, knowledge, and attitudes towards CalFresh, and whether they participated in CalFresh and on-campus food resources. Students experiencing food insecurity used food access resources and CalFresh more than their food secure peers (2=37.3, p<0.001; 2=34.0, p<0.001, respectively). Regardless of this difference, a large proportion of students experiencing food insecurity did not use on campus resources; 36% reported not using any of the on-campus resources. Based on a series of Likert-scale statements about CalFresh knowledge and attitudes, five themes were identified through exploratory factor analysis: CalFresh Knowledge, Negative Attitudes Around Participating in CalFresh, Positive Attitudes Around Participating in CalFresh, Negative Attitudes Around Others Participating in CalFresh, and Fortunate Attitudes for not Participating in CalFresh. The trends in these data indicated overall positive correlations between CalFresh Knowledge and attitudes towards the program; CalFresh Knowledge was positively correlated with Positive Attitudes Around Participating in CalFresh in students who participated in CalFresh (τb=0.152, p=0.025) and negatively correlated with Negative Attitudes Around Others Participating in CalFresh (τb=-0.278, p<0.001), and positively correlated with Fortunate Attitudes for not Participating in CalFresh (τb=0.123, p=0.004). In the second study of this dissertation, university students were asked to select food choice motivators that they identified when choosing foods for themselves. Of eight identified food choice motivators (food appearance, taste, nutrition, cost, convenience, dietary restrictions, food familiarity, and meal prepping), three motivators were identified through exploratory factor analysis: Hedonics (which included appearance and taste), Constraints (cost and convenience), and Nutrition Knowledge (dietary restrictions, familiarity, and meal prepping). Food insecurity was positively correlated with the Constraints motivator (τb=0.101, p<0.001), while it was negatively correlated with Nutrition Knowledge (τb=-0.079, p<0.001) and Hedonics (τb=-0.182, p<0.001). The final study in this dissertation series was conducted to examine how food insecurity changes over time, and how participation in CalFresh may moderate the negative affect that food insecurity has on academic performance. Food security status did not change within an academic quarter, but was observed to change over the span of an academic year (χ2(2)=17.008; p<0.001). During the first quarter of university lockdown, participation in CalFresh positively moderated the effect of food insecurity on GPA (B=0.0971, p=0.0088). Together, the research presented in this dissertation clarifies student food insecurity experiences and suggests actionable steps forward to improve campus food security. Future research should be conducted in this area during non-pandemic times to achieve more generalizable results about the differences in food access resource KAPs, food choice motivation, and how resource participation may be of benefit to students’ academic performance.