IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v101y2021ics0306919221000099.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Viewpoint: Food insecurity among college students: A case for consistent and comparable measurement

Author

Listed:
  • Ellison, Brenna
  • Bruening, Meg
  • Hruschka, Daniel J.
  • Nikolaus, Cassandra J.
  • van Woerden, Irene
  • Rabbitt, Matthew P.
  • Nickols-Richardson, Sharon M.

Abstract

A growing body of research among college students has estimated remarkably high levels of food insecurity when compared to food insecurity estimates from the general population over the past decade, with recent literature reviews reporting average prevalence rates of 33–51% compared to 9.8% among U.S. adults. Given these high rates of food insecurity, policymakers at the state- and federal-levels are considering legislation to better understand and ultimately alleviate food insecurity in the college student population. Further, the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study will soon collect national surveillance data on college student food insecurity. However, emerging research suggests that existing food insecurity measurement tools may not perform as expected when used with college students. Indeed, there is no food insecurity measure that has been validated for use with college students. The purpose of this commentary is to discuss the current state of food insecurity measurement among college students and set a course for more meaningful measurement in the college-student population that produces consistent and comparable estimates of food insecurity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ellison, Brenna & Bruening, Meg & Hruschka, Daniel J. & Nikolaus, Cassandra J. & van Woerden, Irene & Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Nickols-Richardson, Sharon M., 2021. "Viewpoint: Food insecurity among college students: A case for consistent and comparable measurement," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:101:y:2021:i:c:s0306919221000099
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919221000099
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102031?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cassandra J Nikolaus & Brenna Ellison & Sharon M Nickols-Richardson, 2019. "Are estimates of food insecurity among college students accurate? Comparison of assessment protocols," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Blumberg, S.J. & Bialostosky, K. & Hamilton, W.L. & Briefel, R.R., 1999. "The effectiveness of a short form of the household food security scale," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(8), pages 1231-1234.
    3. Craig Gundersen & James P Ziliak, 2018. "Food Insecurity Research in the United States: Where We Have Been and Where We Need to Go," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 40(1), pages 119-135.
    4. Sunjin Ahn & Travis A. Smith & F. Bailey Norwood, 2020. "Can Internet Surveys Mimic Food Insecurity Rates Published by the US Government?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 187-204, June.
    5. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Coleman-Jensen, Alisha, 2017. "Rasch analyses of the standardized Spanish translation of the U.S. household food security survey module," Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, IOS Press, issue 2, pages 171-187.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Molly B. Hiller & Donna M. Winham & Simon T. Knoblauch & Mack C. Shelley, 2021. "Food Security Characteristics Vary for Undergraduate and Graduate Students at a Midwest University," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Ryan J. Gamba & Lana Mariko Wood & Adianez Ampil & Alina Engelman & Juleen Lam & Michael T. Schmeltz & Maria M. Pritchard & Joshua Kier Adrian Santillan & Esteban S. Rivera & Nancy Ortiz & Darice Ingr, 2021. "Investigating the Feasibility of a Restaurant Delivery Service to Improve Food Security among College Students Experiencing Marginal Food Security, a Head-to-Head Trial with Grocery Store Gift Cards," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-14, September.
    3. Miriam Manboard & Cassandra M. Johnson & Hannah Thornton & Lesli Biediger-Friedman, 2021. "The HOME Study: Understanding How College Students at a Hispanic Serving Institution Coped with Food Insecurity in a Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, October.
    4. William P. Fisher Jr., 2023. "Separation Theorems in Econometrics and Psychometrics: Rasch, Frisch, Two Fishers and Implications for Measurement," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 35(1), pages 29-60, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sunjin Ahn & Travis A. Smith & F. Bailey Norwood, 2020. "Can Internet Surveys Mimic Food Insecurity Rates Published by the US Government?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 187-204, June.
    2. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Beymer, Matthew R., 2024. "Comparing Food Insecurity Among the U.S. Military and Civilian Adult Populations," Economic Research Report 341823, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Sunjin Ahn & F. Bailey Norwood, 2021. "Measuring Food Insecurity during the COVID‐19 Pandemic of Spring 2020," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 162-168, March.
    4. Craig Gundersen, 2021. "Are College Students More Likely to Be Food Insecure than Nonstudents of Similar Ages?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 1476-1486, December.
    5. Cassandra J Nikolaus & Brenna Ellison & Sharon M Nickols-Richardson, 2019. "Are estimates of food insecurity among college students accurate? Comparison of assessment protocols," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Morteza Akbari & Pantea Foroudi & Mohana Shahmoradi & Hamid Padash & Zahra Shahabaldini Parizi & Ala Khosravani & Pouria Ataei & Maria Teresa Cuomo, 2022. "The Evolution of Food Security: Where Are We Now, Where Should We Go Next?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-27, March.
    7. James P. Ziliak, 2021. "Food Hardship during the COVID‐19 Pandemic and Great Recession," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 132-152, March.
    8. Nicholas Moellman, 2020. "Healthcare and Hunger: Effects of the ACA Medicaid Expansions on Food Insecurity in America," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 168-186, June.
    9. Joseph S Lightner & Serena Rajabiun & Howard J Cabral & Jessica Flaherty & Jamie Shank & Ronald Brooks, 2021. "Associations of internalized and anticipated HIV stigma with returning to work for persons living with HIV," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-10, June.
    10. repec:mpr:mprres:3679 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Robert G. Wood & Anu Rangarajan & John Deke, "undated". "WFNJ Clients Under Welfare Reform: How Is an Early Group Faring Over Time?," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 32fc33e1160a4682b83019769, Mathematica Policy Research.
    12. Craig Gundersen, 2019. "The Right to Food in the United States: The Role of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 101(5), pages 1328-1336, October.
    13. Samuel Raine & Amy Liu & Joel Mintz & Waseem Wahood & Kyle Huntley & Farzanna Haffizulla, 2020. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Outcomes: Social Determination of Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-16, November.
    14. Denney, Justin T. & Brewer, Mackenzie & Kimbro, Rachel Tolbert, 2020. "Food insecurity in households with young children: A test of contextual congruence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    15. Dean Jolliffe & Juan Margitic & Martin Ravallion & Laura Tiehen, 2024. "Food stamps and America's poorest," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(4), pages 1380-1409, August.
    16. Charles Courtemanche & Art Carden & Xilin Zhou & Murugi Ndirangu, 2019. "Do Walmart Supercenters Improve Food Security?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 177-198, June.
    17. Tian, Zheng & Schmidt, Claudia & Goetz, Stephan J., 2022. "The Role of Community Food Services in Reducing U.S. Food Insufficiency in the COVID-19 Pandemic," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 47(3), September.
    18. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Reed-Jones, Madeline & Hales, Laura J. & Burke, Michael P., 2024. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2023," Economic Research Report 344963, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    19. Victoria T. Tanaka & George Engelhard & Matthew P. Rabbitt, 2020. "Using a Bifactor Model to Measure Food Insecurity in Households with Children," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 492-504, September.
    20. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Smith, Michael D., 2021. "Food Insecurity Among Working-Age Veterans," USDA Miscellaneous 311332, United States Department of Agriculture.
    21. Zhong, Danruo & Gunnar, Megan R. & Kelly, Aaron S. & French, Simone & Sherwood, Nancy E. & Berge, Jerica M. & Kunin-Batson, Alicia, 2022. "Household food insecurity and obesity risk in preschool-aged children: A three-year prospective study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:101:y:2021:i:c:s0306919221000099. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.