Food Insecurity, Anxiety, and Physical Activity Among College Students, Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Restricted (Penn State Only)
Author:
Jimenez Rincon, Sara
Area of Honors:
Nutritional Sciences
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Muzi Na, Thesis Supervisor Alison D Gernand, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
food insecurity anxiety physical activity college students behavioral nutrition public health
Abstract:
The prevalence of food insecurity (FI) is high among college students, and FI can contribute to adverse mental health outcomes. Additionally, the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had multifaceted impacts on psychological well-being. This study identified patterns and the relationship between FI, physical activity (PA), and anxiety in college students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used data from the Penn State College Relationships and Experiences (CORE) project, a university-wide survey on college student health between 2019 and 2020. Analyzing data prior to and during the pandemic, we aimed to 1) explore whether FI is related to anxiety, and 2) examine if PA moderates the relationship between FI and anxiety. Among 919 college students, FI was related to 2.69 times increased odds of anxiety before COVID-19 (95% CI:1.98-3.66) and FI was related to 1.91 times increased odds of anxiety during COVID-19 (95% CI: 1.32-2.78) after controlling for covariates. We did not find that PA was a significant moderator variable in the relationship between FI and anxiety (p=0.09). It’s possible that exercise is not a sufficient buffer for adverse mental health precipitated by FI. Future studies should focus on diverse sampling and future investigation with more nuanced measurement methods.
