Food Insecurity, Quality of Life, and Diet Optimization of Low Income University Students in Selangor, Malaysia (original) (raw)

Food insecurity among university students at two selected public universities in Malaysia

2019

Most of food insecurity studies focus on the general households’ level and less have been done for the university students. Therefore, this cross-sectional study focused on determining food insecurity, assessing factors contributing to the food insecurity and the association between socioeconomic status and food security status among students in two public universities in Terengganu. About 96 undergraduate students from two selected public universities in Terengganu participated and filled out a self-administered questionnaire consisting of three primary sections; Demographic profile, Food Security Index and Causes of Food Insecure and these were later analysed by SPSS. Results showed that 22% of respondents were classified as food insecure, with 14% of them were categorized in the low food security group and 8% were categorized as very low food security. High cost of living is among the main factors contributing to food insecurity among the university students in Terengganu. Howeve...

Prevalence and factors affecting food insecurity among university students in Pahang, Malaysia

Malaysian Journal of Nutrition, 2019

Introduction: Food insecurity exists whenever people are unable to access sufficient food at all times for an active and healthy life. University students are a potentially vulnerable group of people to face food insecurity. This study aimed to identify the prevalence and determinants of food insecurity among a population of university students in Kuantan, in the state of Pahang. Methods: Food security status was identified using the United States Adult Food Security Survey Module (USAFSSM). Factors, which include demographic background, spending expenditure pattern and time constraints, were assessed. A total of 316 students were selected through stratified random sampling throughout six faculties of the International Islamic University Malaysia, of whom 307 successfully completed the survey. Results: The result shows that 54.4% of the students were experiencing food insecurity, from which 32.9% were sub-categorised as low food security and 21.5% as very low food security. Food insecurity was found to be significantly associated with time constraints (p<0.05), spending on books (p<0.05), miscellaneous items (p<0.05), parents' income (p<0.001) and scholarship type (p<0.001). Conclusion: Apart from the high incidence of food insecurity among the students, time and financial affordability appeared to be critical concerns in this study. Since food insecurity has become a significant issue with university students, it should be addressed and prioritised by the relevant authorities.

Financial problems associated with food insecurity among public university students in Peninsular Malaysia

Malaysian Journal of Nutrition, 2020

Introduction: Food is a necessity for students. Yet, students’ food expenditure is anticipated to be restrained by their financial status. This cross-sectional study aims to determine the prevalence of food insecurity and its determinants among university students attending public universities in Peninsular Malaysia. Methods: Multistage random sampling was used to select respondents from public universities in Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 427 undergraduate students completed a selfadministered questionnaire at four randomly selected universities (Universiti Utara Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Pahang and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia). The questionnaire consisted of information concerning demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, food security status, eating behaviour, financial literacy, and financial problem among university students. Frequency, chi-square, and logistic regression were used to analyse the variables. Results: Mean age of the respo...

Food Insecurity and Associated Factors Among University Students

Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 2019

Background: Food insecurity is a growing public health issue and a barrier to students achieving adequate nutrition. Data regarding food insecurity among university students in Nigeria are scarce. Objective: The study assessed the prevalence of food insecurity and associated factors among university students, southeast Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 398 randomly selected students recruited from 2 universities in southeast Nigeria was conducted. Food security status was assessed using the 10-item US Household Food Security Scale Module. Anthropometric measurements and sociodemographic data were collected. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with food insecurity. Results: A majority of the students were categorized as food insecure. Of this, about 35.7% and 45.0% were considered to have low and very low food insecurity, respectively. Food insecurity was significantly associated with monthly allowance, daily amount spent on food, and ...

Determinant of Food Adequacy Level by Using Malaysian Food Variety Indicator (MFVI) among University Students from Low-Income Families in Serdang, Selangor

International journal of academic research in business & social sciences, 2023

This research aims to identify the food adequacy level of students from low-income families at Universiti Putra Malaysia of Serdang campus. There were 250 students selected purposely for this study. The students must be living in-campus or off-campus and must be Malaysian. The Malaysian Food Variety Indicator (MFVI) was used to determine the food adequacy of respondents while Food Variety Score (FVS) was used to measure the food consumption pattern of respondents. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 25. The results show that 52.8% of respondents were male and 47.2% were female students. 92.8% of respondents had a low category of FVS (0 to 90 scores), while 97.6% of respondents had a low level of MFVI. Pearson Correlation Test showed a significant relationship between FVS and MFVI (r=0.593, p=0.000). This proves that the level of food adequacy is affected by the food consumption pattern of respondents. It can be concluded that the low consumption of food will affect the food adequacy level of B40 students at Universiti Putra Malaysia. The management and related agencies can provide programs to ensure that these students had adequate food for them to safely undergo their studies at university.

Food insecurity among students at the University

A large body of empirical evidence with regard to schoolchildren supports the fact that poor nutrition and food insecurity negatively affect cognitive function and academic performance. 10-12 However, food insecurity in students at higher education institutions is a neglected field of research, possibly owing to the traditional, unstated

Evaluation of food insecurity and its association with food consumption and some variables among college students

Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition

Background Students are an important group threatened by food insecurity. Food insecurity among college students is one of the research topics that is attracting attention worldwide, and interest in this topic is growing by the day. Food insecurity has a negative impact on students' biological, mental and social health. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of food insecurity and correlate it with frequency of food consumption and some variables among undergraduate students. Methods This descriptive-analytical study was conducted with 1149 university students at Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey. The demographic characteristics of the individuals (gender, age, living situation, income status, and health information), anthropometric measurements (body weight and height), nutritional habits, frequency of food consumption, and Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) were questioned. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used for statistical...

Food Insecurity on LLU Campus and the Awareness of Resources Available

2021

Background: The prevalence of food insecurity (FI) on college campuses in the United States was 41% in 2018. However, most studies focus on undergraduate students on public college campuses. Food insecurity has been shown to lead to poor sleep, higher BMI, worse academic outcomes, poor mental health, less physical activity, and the consumption of less fruits and vegetables than their food secure peers. Objective: The purpose of this graduate student research study was to determine the prevalence of food insecurity among students at LLU (a private and predominately graduate university) and their awareness of local food resources. Methods: Emails were sent to the eight schools of current Loma Linda University students with a request for them to complete an anonymous survey (Qualtrics). Out of the 5,000 possible participants, 239 students from seven schools, ages 18-59, participated in the survey. Participants answered 21 multiple choice questions, 4 free response questions, and 2 Likert scale response questions that took approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. Results: According to the USDA's US Food Security Survey Module: Six Item-Short Form, 61.09% of participants were categorized as having "high food security," 17.15% were categorized as having "low food security," and 21.76% were categorized as having "very low food security." Chi square test of independence showed a significant association between Food Security Survey Score and variables BMI, race, highest obtained degree, and annual income (P=0.002, P=0.002, P=0.011, P=0.004, respectively). One way ANOVA showed significant differences in GPA among different survey scores (p=0.031) and post hoc (LSD) test showed participants with "very low food security" had significantly lower GPAs than participants with "high food security." Students were asked to prioritize their personal spending and ranked the categories from 1 to 7 (housing, tuition, food, clothes, transportation, personal spending, and other). Many of the students reported their highest three priorities were housing, tuition, and food, respectively. The two lowest priorities were personal spending and other. When participants were asked how food was prioritized in their budget, 30% of the students ranked food as their number one spending priority, 31% ranked food as their second priority, 24% of students ranked food as their third priority, and no students ranked food as their sixth or seventh priority. Conclusion: The findings our research highlight both the prevalence of food insecurity and the awareness of food resources in the LLU student population, which reveals the need to address FI to maximize whole person care. Some strategies to address FI on the LLU campus include increasing communication of resources available, implementing food resources on campus (e.g. campus food bank, cafeteria meal plan, etc.

INFLUENCE OF DIETARY PATTERNS ON NUTRITIONAL STATUS AMONG FEMALE STUDENTS IN MASENO UNIVERITY

Mark, Alice, 2014

Life in the university involves both academic and social learning for students who are from different social, economic and ethnical backgrounds hence a change of environment which can impact on personality, attitudes and behavior of the students. This may be extended to the feeding habits and eventually to nutritional status of the students Students may make poor choices which may affect their nutritional status as they join university and this may continue throughout their campus life (Cruz, 2000; Isa & Masuri, 2011). University being a multicultural society, differences in foods habits is evident and this has been influenced by factor like acculturation, students’ class schedules, peer pressure etc. In these situations, their nutritional status can be impacted since one cannot tell if they are well nourished or not. Therefore the purpose of this study was to establish the dietary patterns among female students and how it influences their nutritional status in Maseno University. The study was conducted within Maseno University using a cross sectional study design targeting female students residing within university hostels with a sample size of 74 female students using cluster random sampling procedure from a total estimate of 4600 female students. Data collection tool was a self-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results shows that 33.8% of respondents indicated that they took two meals per day, 63.5% took three meals and 2.7% took four meals per day during the working day. While, during weekends 1.4% took one meals per day, 23% took two meals, 62.2% took three meals, 12.2% took four meals and 1.4% took five meals per day.Majority of respondents’ dietary intake were affected by lack of money (47.3%), while lack of food items represented 35.1% while availability of fast foods had the least effect with a representation of 17.6%. More than half of the respondents indicated that the foods available do not meet their nutritional benefit.The established dietary patterns and nutritional status of female students in Maseno university community was important as it can be used in designing and initiating nutrition awareness programs to enlighten other students and entire community on nutrition, dietary patterns and it influences on their nutrition status. Also it will be a base for further research on dietary patterns, nutritional status or gaps of knowledge in this study in other universities within Kenya and entire world.

​Socioeconomic status of Khulna university students deduced from their dietary intake profile

International Journal of Business Management and Social Research, 2019

Socioeconomic factors play a crucial role and could affect nutritional status and health condition of the students which supposed to have relation with academic performances. Socioeconomic status could be deduced from the dietary intake profile of a person. This study was attempted to explore the current socioeconomic status based on dietary intake of the proportionate-randomly selected 138 students of 28 Disciplines of Khulna University. Data were on relevant indicators (personal: gender, age, family size and type; economic: monthly family income, monthly requirement of money, different sources of money, dependency extent on different sources, earning through private tuition, contribution to family from tuition earning, tuition earnings share to meet-up monthly monetary need, hamper of study due to private tuition and monthly expenditure) were identified and discussed in this study representing the common socioeconomic status of the students. Dietary food intake profile was determined by using 24-hour recall method where some indicators used including calorie intake from different meal times, calorie intake status in terms of different poverty scales (CBN-Cost of Basic Needs; HIES-Household Income and Expenditure Survey; and Students Need), daily dietary food cost (Taka) and monthly food cost status in terms of different poverty scales (mentioned earlier). The findings showed that the highest proportion (56.50%) of the respondents were female students, and highest proportion (64.49%) was 21-23 years aged. Majority of the respondents (76.10%) were from small sized (<5 members) nuclear (73.90%) family and belonged to low (<30,000 Taka; 43.50%) to medium (30,000-50,000 Taka; 41.30%) income family. The mean amount of required money per month was 6,902.90 Taka. The findings showed that family (50%) and family+private tuition (30.40%) were the most important sources of money for the students. Among the respondents 46.40% provided private tuition and 4.30% contributed to family from the earnings from private tuition. About one-fifth (20.30%) of the respondents said that they earn 50% share of monthly expenditure from private tuition; and 36.30% mentioned that tuition time and their effort in tuition had a negative impact on their own study. This negative impact could be overcome through judicious time management between tuition providing and university's academic need. Monthly average expenditure for study purpose was only 17.80% and monthly average food cost was 28.80%. Average total calorie intake was 1,923.90 Kilocalories student-1 day-1 which was below standard in terms different poverty scales. The research findings showed that a student should spend 132 Taka per day to achieve 1,923.90 Kilocalorie (average) and monthly food expenditure should be 3,960 Taka. In this way a student should spend 4,368 Taka,