Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 5-6-2022

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Nutrition and Hospitality Management

First Advisor

Laurel Lambert

Second Advisor

Melinda Valliant

Third Advisor

Georgianna Mann

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Food insecurity (FI), defined as the lack of consistent access to nutrient dense foods, is equally complex as it is prominent in low-income households. Many food insecure individuals have developed coping strategies to mitigate food deficiencies. There remains a gap in research regarding the influence food insecurity on these coping strategies during the transitionary period of students from home life to college. The present study examines the impact of food insecurity on coping strategies among students during both high school and college experiences. A total of 231 freshmen at two large, urban universities completed a questionnaire that included the 6-item USDA HFSSM, demographic characteristics, and anthropometric measurements in December of 2021. Approximately 26% of students experienced FI during their senior year of high school. Very low food secure (VLFS) high school students practiced denying themselves preferred food (p=0.027), limiting portion sizes (p=0.021), and skipping meals (p=0.001) more often than low food secured students (LFS). Approximately 48% of students reported experiencing FI during their freshmen year of college, with VLFS freshmen denying themselves preferred food (p=0.002), limiting portion sizes (p=0.002), and skipping meals (pp= 0.007) and skipping meals to eat a larger meal later more often (p

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Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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