Persistent hunger, or feelings of shame and isolation, afflict those who experience food insecurity—having “limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate and safe foods” due to poverty or inadequate monetary resources. According to previous research, the prevalence of food insecurity in college students is higher than that of the general US population. To date, there has been little research investigating how food insecurity among college students may influence academic success. This cross-sectional online survey was conducted to explore whether food insecurity in college students at the University of California was associated with poorer academic outcomes and whether the relationship was mediated by mental health. The researchers hypothesized that food insecurity would be related to student academic outcomes (as measured via GPA) (a) directly and (b) indirectly through mental health.
Conducted with the entire University of California (UC) system of public universities, the researchers invited a random sample of students to participate. This research utilized clear inclusion criteria (i.e., being a UC student) and recruited randomly from across the entire target population. However, despite these strong methodological considerations, issues with nonresponse and volunteer bias in this sample pose a threat to the validity of the results. The study was completed on a volunteer basis, and the online survey link was sent to 67,645 students.
However, only 8932 participated, and only 8705 provided useable data. With a response rate of only 13%, it is impossible to know if the results of this study generalize to students that did not respond. There may be inherent differences between students who did and did not complete the survey in the way that food insecurity relates to their mental health and GPA. It is also important to note that the students who did not fully complete the food security measure were more likely to be part-time, mixed race/other, or international students. Having higher levels of nonresponse bias among participants with certain demographics necessitates that researchers take caution when generalizing the results to these subpopulations.
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The survey included a validated, six-item measure of food security endorsed by the United States Department of Agriculture. The researchers did not comment on the validity of the nine mental health measures they chose to include for analysis, only that they came from a recognized source (the National College Health Assessment II survey). While it is commendable that a validated measure was employed for at least one of the important constructs (food insecurity), self-report data was used as the sole indicator of student GPA.
When self-reporting GPA students may fall prey to social desirability response bias; responding in ways that paint them in a positive light, rather than providing the truth. Eighty-six percent of students reported having an A or B GPA, and the researchers did not provide any indication of whether this distribution of grades was reflective of the true UC GPA distribution. The definition of the GPA measure presents further issues, as the numerical values of each grade—A, B, C, or D/F—were not operationally defined for the participants. It is possible that letter GPA values have varying meanings across classes, concentrations, and campuses.
For example, while an “A” to a Mathematics student at UC Berkeley may reflect a number grade of 80-100%, a Mathematics student at UC Irvine may consider it a number grade of 95-100%. Obtaining participant consent to gather GPA data from UC directly would have helped control for these potential “grade definition” confounds, as well as social desirability response bias. Without a valid assessment of GPA, it is difficult to ascertain the true association between food security and academic success.
While the results were clearly formatted in understandable tables, essential and basic descriptive statistics such as the mean, median, and standard deviation for each measure were not reported. Aside from knowing how many students were categorized as food secure or insecure, the reader is left without information about the distribution of the scores, and without the ability to compute effect sizes or compare any replicated findings. Although the researchers measured and controlled for many relevant covariates, they did not measure social support, or feelings of shame and isolation—concepts they discussed in the introduction. The effects of food insecurity on mental health and academic success may be moderated by social support. The researchers missed an opportunity to replicate previous findings by not measuring these constructs.
This study has the potential to inform policy makers and those in higher education administration on factors related to student wellbeing and academic success. When individuals in positions of power are equipped with scientific knowledge, they can advocate for beneficial interventions and programs. This study is significant and important in that it provides novel information about a struggling and understudied population.
Although the study was not without flaw, it was conducted with a large sample size of participants randomly selected from across the target population and utilized validated measures where possible. It is also a testament to the relatively high quality of research that can be conducted with very little resources. Although the results may not generalize to students at other institutions or in other geographical areas, the associations found with this sample of UC students suggests that food security may be an important consideration when attempting to understand college student mental health and academic success.
References
- Persistent hunger, or feelings of shame and isolation, afflict those who experience food insecurity—having “limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate and safe foods” due to poverty or inadequate monetary resources
- University of California Office of the President
- To date, there has been little research investigating how food insecurity among college students may influence academic success.
- the researchers invited a random sample of students to participate.
- This research utilized clear inclusion criteria (i.e., being a UC student) and recruited randomly from across the entire target population.
- issues with nonresponse and volunteer bias in this sample pose a threat to the validity of the results.
