1. College student sleep quality and mental and physical health are associated with food insecurity in a multi-campus study
- Author
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Julia F. Waity, J. Porter Lillis, Lanae B. Hood, Patty Coleman, Melissa D. Olfert, Rebecca L. Hagedorn, Jennifer Walsh, Keith Pearson, Mary Catherine Fontenot, Lillian MacNell, Marsha Spence, Mateja R. Savoie Roskos, Maureen Berner, Jessica Soldavini, Elizabeth Wall-Bassett, Melanie Hingle, Bailey Houghtaling, E. Brooke Kelly, Christopher J. Paul, Monica Esquivel, Elizabeth Anderson-Steeves, Georgianna Mann, Linda L. Knol, Adam Hege, Valerie Kern-Lyons, and Jeannine Goetz
- Subjects
Adult ,Gerontology ,Activities of daily living ,Universities ,Physical health ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,Logistic regression ,Food Supply ,Odds ,Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Humans ,Medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Students ,University ,Nutrition and Dietetics ,Food security ,Community Nutrition ,Food insecurity ,business.industry ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,College ,Mental health ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Student ,Sleep ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Research Paper - Abstract
Objective:To assess the relationship between food insecurity, sleep quality, and days with mental and physical health issues among college students.Design:An online survey was administered. Food insecurity was assessed using the ten-item Adult Food Security Survey Module. Sleep was measured using the nineteen-item Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Mental health and physical health were measured using three items from the Healthy Days Core Module. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to assess the relationship between food insecurity, sleep quality, and days with poor mental and physical health.Setting:Twenty-two higher education institutions.Participants:College students (n 17 686) enrolled at one of twenty-two participating universities.Results:Compared with food-secure students, those classified as food insecure (43·4 %) had higher PSQI scores indicating poorer sleep quality (P < 0·0001) and reported more days with poor mental (P < 0·0001) and physical (P < 0·0001) health as well as days when mental and physical health prevented them from completing daily activities (P < 0·0001). Food-insecure students had higher adjusted odds of having poor sleep quality (adjusted OR (AOR): 1·13; 95 % CI 1·12, 1·14), days with poor physical health (AOR: 1·01; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·02), days with poor mental health (AOR: 1·03; 95 % CI 1·02, 1·03) and days when poor mental or physical health prevented them from completing daily activities (AOR: 1·03; 95 % CI 1·02, 1·04).Conclusions:College students report high food insecurity which is associated with poor mental and physical health, and sleep quality. Multi-level policy changes and campus wellness programmes are needed to prevent food insecurity and improve student health-related outcomes.
- Published
- 2021