Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.
Research Centre of Excellence for Nutrition and Non-Communicable Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 May 25;18(11):5627. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18115627.
Food insecurity is a growing concern among university students. The high prevalence of food insecurity is a threat to students' health and success. Therefore, this study aims to determine an association between food security status, psychosocial factors, and academic performance among university students. A total of 663 undergraduate students in seven randomly selected faculties in Universiti Putra Malaysia participated in this study. An online survey was conducted to obtain demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, food security status (six-item USDA; food security survey module, FSSM), psychosocial factors (depression, anxiety and stress scale, DASS-21) and academic performance. Among the abovementioned participating students, 32.4% are male. About 62.8% reported to have experienced food insecurity. Binary logistic regression revealed that students whose fathers were working (AOR = 6.446, 95% CI: 1.22, 34.01) came from low- (AOR = 14.314, 95% CI: 1.565, 130.954) and middle-income groups (AOR = 15.687, 95% CI: 1.720, 143.092), and those receiving financial aid (AOR = 2.811, 95% CI: 1.602, 4.932) were associated with food insecurity. Additionally, food insecurity students were less-likely reported, with CGPA ≥ 3.7 (AOR = 0.363, 95% CI: 1.22-34.014). Food insecurity respondents had higher odds for stress (AOR = 1.562, 95% CI: 1.111, 2.192), anxiety (AOR = 3.046, 95% CI: 2.090, 4.441), and depression (AOR = 2.935, 95% CI: 2.074, 4.151). The higher institutions should identify students with food insecurity problems and future intervention programs need to be conducted to combat food insecurity among students, thus yielding benefits to their health and success.
大学生的食物不安全问题日益受到关注。食物不安全的高患病率对学生的健康和成功构成威胁。因此，本研究旨在确定大学生的食物安全状况、心理社会因素与学业成绩之间的关联。
共有来自马来西亚博特拉大学七个随机选定学院的 663 名本科生参与了这项研究。通过在线调查获得了人口统计学和社会经济特征、食物安全状况（六项目美国农业部；食物安全调查模块，FSSM）、心理社会因素（抑郁、焦虑和压力量表，DASS-21）和学业成绩。在上述参与学生中，32.4%为男性。约 62.8%的学生报告经历过食物不安全。二元逻辑回归显示，父亲工作的学生（AOR=6.446，95%CI：1.22，34.01）来自低收入（AOR=14.314，95%CI：1.565，130.954）和中等收入群体（AOR=15.687，95%CI：1.720，143.092），以及接受经济援助的学生（AOR=2.811，95%CI：1.602，4.932）与食物不安全有关。此外，食物不安全的学生报告 CGPA≥3.7 的可能性较低（AOR=0.363，95%CI：1.22-34.014）。食物不安全的受访者更有可能感到压力（AOR=1.562，95%CI：1.111，2.192）、焦虑（AOR=3.046，95%CI：2.090，4.441）和抑郁（AOR=2.935，95%CI：2.074，4.151）。高校应确定有食物不安全问题的学生，并开展未来的干预计划，以解决学生的食物不安全问题，从而使他们的健康和成功受益。
