Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
Dental Student at the time of Study Completion, Private Practice.
J Dent Educ. 2021 Sep;85(9):1518-1524. doi: 10.1002/jdd.12623. Epub 2021 Apr 27.
The prevalence of food insecurity among undergraduate students is higher than the national average and associated with adverse academic outcomes. Our objective was to describe the prevalence of food insecurity, food access behaviors, and associations between food security status and well-being in a dental student population.
All dental students (N = 328) enrolled in the College of Dentistry at the University of Iowa in the fall 2019 semester were invited to participate. The survey was designed to query demographic variables, food security status (i.e., the United States Department of Agriculture's 10-item Adult Food Security Module), and food- or hunger-related well-being (i.e., sleep, academic performance, and stress). The survey was administered using the Qualtrics survey platform. Following the initial invitation, students were sent two reminders and allowed 3 weeks for completion.
The survey response rate was 24.7%. Forty-seven percent of respondents were food insecure. Food insecure students were more likely to attend collegiate programming (e.g., lunch and learns) for the primary purpose of obtaining free food than their food secure peers (p <0.001). In addition, food insecure students were more likely to report experiencing food- or hunger-related sleep (p = 0.001), study or academic performance (p <0.001), or stress difficulties than their food secure peers (p <0.001).
The prevalence of food insecurity in dental students was relatively high and associated with adverse food- and/or hunger-related well-being outcomes. Food insecurity might be a barrier to dental student success, compromising their immediate health and ability to learn.
本科生的食物不安全发生率高于全国平均水平，与不良的学业成绩有关。我们的目的是描述牙科学生群体中食物不安全的发生率、食物获取行为，以及食物安全状况与幸福感之间的关系。
邀请 2019 年秋季在爱荷华大学牙科学院就读的所有牙科学生（N=328）参加。该调查旨在查询人口统计学变量、食物安全状况（即美国农业部的 10 项成人食物安全模块）和与食物或饥饿相关的幸福感（即睡眠、学业成绩和压力）。调查采用 Qualtrics 调查平台进行。在最初的邀请之后，学生们收到了两条提醒信息，完成调查需要 3 周时间。
调查的回复率为 24.7%。47%的受访者食物不安全。与食物安全的同龄人相比，食物不安全的学生更有可能参加大学活动（例如，午餐和学习），主要目的是获得免费食物（p<0.001）。此外，与食物安全的同龄人相比，食物不安全的学生更有可能报告经历与食物或饥饿相关的睡眠（p=0.001）、学习或学业成绩（p<0.001）或压力困难（p<0.001）。
牙科学生的食物不安全发生率相对较高，与不良的食物和/或饥饿相关的幸福感结果有关。食物不安全可能是牙科学生成功的障碍，影响他们的即时健康和学习能力。
