Factors Associated with Food Security of Texas Woman's University Freshmen

Objective: To investigate what factors are associated with food insecurity (FI) among freshman students and identify potential solutions. Participants: 73 freshman students. Methods: Cross-sectional, Internet survey-based study. Fisher's Exact tests examined factors associated with food security (FS); Cohen's Kappa assessed the agreement between FI scores and self-assessment; thematic analysis used Nvivo 12. Results: FI was 54.2% among the diverse students (65% non-white). Factors associated with FS included mother with a college degree (p = 0.018); father employed full-time (p < 0.001); identifying one's family financial situation as better than others (p = < 0.001); not obtaining personal student loans (p = 0.022). Students with FI tended to overestimate their FS status. Suggested solutions for FI included: improved finances, improved food accessibility, improved cooking skills. Conclusions: Future interventions should target freshmen who obtain personal student loans or have parents with less than a college degree or unstable employment status. (148)