Socioeconomic Status and Diet Quality in College Students

Friedolin Merhout; Joshua Doyle

doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2019.06.021

Socioeconomic Status and Diet Quality in College Students

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the existence and trajectory of diet disparities among college students from different socioeconomic statuses (SESs). Methods: A random sample of freshman and sophomore students was invited to participate in an online survey on eating behaviors. Ordinary least squares regressions were fit to 148 complete responses to examine the association between family income ≤200% of the federal poverty level and overall, healthy, and unhealthy food consumption. Results: Low-SES students reported eating significantly more unhealthy food during their freshman year than their non–low-SES peers. This difference is not statistically significant for second-year students and robust to on-campus spending power. Conclusions and Implications: Disparities in diets for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds that were observed in the freshman year of college were absent in the sophomore year. Awareness of these disparities and trend is important to broadly promote healthy eating.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
ISSN	1499-4046
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2019.06.021
Publication status	Published - Oct 2019

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10.1016/j.jneb.2019.06.021

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S149940461930908X

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title = "Socioeconomic Status and Diet Quality in College Students",

abstract = "Objective: To investigate the existence and trajectory of diet disparities among college students from different socioeconomic statuses (SESs). Methods: A random sample of freshman and sophomore students was invited to participate in an online survey on eating behaviors. Ordinary least squares regressions were fit to 148 complete responses to examine the association between family income ≤200% of the federal poverty level and overall, healthy, and unhealthy food consumption. Results: Low-SES students reported eating significantly more unhealthy food during their freshman year than their non–low-SES peers. This difference is not statistically significant for second-year students and robust to on-campus spending power. Conclusions and Implications: Disparities in diets for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds that were observed in the freshman year of college were absent in the sophomore year. Awareness of these disparities and trend is important to broadly promote healthy eating.",

author = "Friedolin Merhout and Joshua Doyle",

year = "2019",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jneb.2019.06.021",

language = "English",

journal = "Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior",

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AU - Doyle, Joshua

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N2 - Objective: To investigate the existence and trajectory of diet disparities among college students from different socioeconomic statuses (SESs). Methods: A random sample of freshman and sophomore students was invited to participate in an online survey on eating behaviors. Ordinary least squares regressions were fit to 148 complete responses to examine the association between family income ≤200% of the federal poverty level and overall, healthy, and unhealthy food consumption. Results: Low-SES students reported eating significantly more unhealthy food during their freshman year than their non–low-SES peers. This difference is not statistically significant for second-year students and robust to on-campus spending power. Conclusions and Implications: Disparities in diets for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds that were observed in the freshman year of college were absent in the sophomore year. Awareness of these disparities and trend is important to broadly promote healthy eating.

AB - Objective: To investigate the existence and trajectory of diet disparities among college students from different socioeconomic statuses (SESs). Methods: A random sample of freshman and sophomore students was invited to participate in an online survey on eating behaviors. Ordinary least squares regressions were fit to 148 complete responses to examine the association between family income ≤200% of the federal poverty level and overall, healthy, and unhealthy food consumption. Results: Low-SES students reported eating significantly more unhealthy food during their freshman year than their non–low-SES peers. This difference is not statistically significant for second-year students and robust to on-campus spending power. Conclusions and Implications: Disparities in diets for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds that were observed in the freshman year of college were absent in the sophomore year. Awareness of these disparities and trend is important to broadly promote healthy eating.

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DO - 10.1016/j.jneb.2019.06.021

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SN - 1499-4046

JO - Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

JF - Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

ER -

Socioeconomic Status and Diet Quality in College Students

Abstract

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