Nutrition Commons^™

Implementing Food Insecurity Screening On A College Campus, Norma Martinez

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Background. Students attending universities have higher rates of food insecurity than U.S. households. Most college campuses do not routinely screen students for food insecurity, which can affect students’ health and school performance. Currently, the university health clinic does not screen students for food insecurity. Purpose. To screen all students who present to the university clinic for food insecurity and evaluate students with food insecurity for malnutrition. Evidence. Foreman et al. (2018) and Abu and Oldewage-Theron (2019) found that food insecurity was present at some of the largest Texas universities at rates higher than the national average. Project Objectives. To screen …

Using Poultry To Enhance Food Security In Stann Creek, Belize, Emily Spatz

Poultry Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Food insecurity is a growing issue in developing and developed countries alike, and in countries like Belize, the prevalence of hunger has soared in recent years. Not having access to diets with sufficient calories and nutrients leads to a host of developmental issues, including stunting and cognitive delays. The purpose of this work was to create an all-encompassing manual for small-scale broiler production, with the intention of another honors student overseeing the implementation of the ideas set forth in the manual, in order to provide nourishment for the students and staff of a school in Belize. After determining that the …

Food Insecurity And Depression Among Us Adults: The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey, Nicole Reeder

Theses and Dissertations

Food insecurity has long been a global challenge associated with negative health outcomes. The spectrum of food insecurity corresponds to a spectrum of negative health outcomes that range from kwashiorkor and marasmus to obesity and chronic disease. The burden of food insecurity is a stressor that additionally negatively effects mental health. In this study, the relationship between food insecurity and mental health was examined using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Food insecurity was assessed with the 18-item United States Food Security Survey Module, and participants were classified into one of four categories based on their …

Eat Well, Be Well: Basic Needs Initiative's Online Hub For Nutrition Education, Misha Moseley

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Basic Needs Initiative at California State University, Monterey Bay is a department that provides students with food, housing, and wellness resources. Over half of the university's students experience food insecurity, and over 85% use non-academic resources to learn about nutrition. This project adds a dietary health section to the department’s website to increase students’ access to nutrition education. It addresses the micro-level agency problem that too few students eat a healthy, balanced diet. Unhealthy eating is a risk factor for food insecurity, so the project indirectly addresses the macro-level health problem that too many college students in California experience food …

Food Insecurity And Dietary Intake In Adults With Type 2 Diabetes In Southern Nevada, Elizabeth Torres

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background Type 2 diabetes is a major public health issue and food insecurity can affect diabetes management. Food insecurity can contribute to disrupted dietary eating patterns and decreased consumptions of a variety of foods. The aim of this observational study was to determine the difference in dietary intake between food insecure and food secure individuals with type 2 diabetes, as well as by glycemic control. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 55 participants were recruited from an academic endocrinology clinic. Participants completed a 7-day food diary, a household food security questionnaire, and assessment of blood biomarkers (HbA1c). To determine the differences …

Leveraging Community Health Workers’ Expertise In The Community To Address Food Insecurity In Appalachia, Alexis Kimbro Scott

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Residents of the Appalachian region of Kentucky are disproportionately affected by poor social determinants of health that contribute to the persistence of food insecurity and diet related diseases in this region. Poverty levels persist in rural areas of the Appalachian region while they improve throughout the rest of the United States. As this further perpetuates food insecurity in rural Appalachia, it is critical to identify culturally sensitive solutions to food insecurity. Utilizing Community Health Workers (CHWs), lay members of the community who have deep understanding of the communities they live in and serve, may be the answer to this problem. …

The Effect On Incorporating Fresh Fruits And Vegetables Into An Emergency Food Box Program In Rural Appalachia Kentucky, Zixuan Li

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

About 1 in 8 Kentuckians experiencing food insecurity. Low-income Appalachian Kentuckians often utilize food assistance programs and community resources to obtain food and they have lack regular access to fresh food, especially fruits and vegetables. Of concern is nutrition quality and the ability to use food items. The study aimed to explore if and how low-income Appalachian Kentuckians living in a food desert utilized their standard food pantry box as well as a supplemental box of free fresh produce. The study was done through distribution of supplemental fruit and vegetable boxes along with their emergency food box seven different times …

Comparing The Effectiveness And Appeal Of Delivering A Pilot Text Message And An In-Person Whole Body Approach (Wba) Program To Northern Illinois Food Bank Clients., Ashley Rae Werner

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: The Whole-Body Approach (WBA) is a program created by Northern Illinois Food Bank in partnership with Northern Illinois University (NIU) Nutrition and Dietetics Graduate students and faculty. This program has been delivered over the course of six years to various food pantries around the Northern Illinois area and modified in response to participants’ feedback. The topics that are discussed throughout the program include stress management, relationship with food, mindful eating, healthy body image, and enjoyable movement. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was adapted to a delivered via text messages for Northern Illinois Food Bank My Pantry …

Intuitive Eating Behaviors Among A Sample Of Food Secure And Food Insecure College Students, Morgan Stocker, Christin Seher Phd, Rdn, Ld

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Intuitive Eating (IE) is a food mindset focusing on honoring hunger and fullness, while rejecting the diet mentality. Research demonstrates a clear link between IE and health outcomes across many populations, including college students. Despite a growing body of literature, we still know very little about what complexities food insecurity may present for individuals trying to adopt IE behaviors. This study builds off prior research to investigate IE behaviors in food insecure and food secure students through a Qualtrics survey utilizing the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Six-Item Short Form to determine food …

The Correlation Between Dietary Intake, Stress, Food Insecurity, Physical Activity, Sleep, And Screen Time In College Students During Covid-19, Mariana Alves Olguin

Theses & Dissertations

College students with high stress levels are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors, which may negatively impact their health. During COVID-19, college student’s lives were disrupted on multiple levels. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dietary intake, perceived stress, food insecurity, sleep, screen time, and physical activity among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. College students at the University of the Incarnate Word (N=154) completed an online survey to assess dietary choices (Dietary Screener Questionnaires (DSQ) in the NHANES 2009-10: DSQ), food insecurity (6-item Short Form of the US Household Food Security Survey), stress …

Perceived Adult/Child Health And Diet By Snap Usage And Food Security In A Rural, Appalachian Mississippi Community, Georgia Inglis

Honors Theses

This study examined if there were differences in perceived adult health score, perceived adult diet score, parent-perceived child health score, and parent-perceived child diet score by SNAP usage and food security in a rural, Appalachian Mississippi community. Adults (n=1084) with elementary school- aged children were surveyed in a rural, Appalachian Mississippi school district. Demographic, household adult food security (USDA 10-item measure), and perceived health and dietary data were collected. Using IBM SPSS version 24, demographic statistics were calculated to summarize data. Independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc test was utilized to assess for differences between groups. P.05) …

More Than A Meal : A Resource For Communities Striving For Food Sovereignty Through The Charitable Food System, Kaitlin J. Robertson

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

The 2020 pandemic and economic crisis showcased the fragility of the American food system. In the months of quarantine and lockdowns, a growing number of Americans searched for ways to feed themselves and their families. Community-based and volunteer-supported feeding programs worked to bridge the divide between the hungry and their next meal. In many cases, these programs rely on an unpaid workforce and donations – of time, food, and facilities. With limited resources, volunteer-led programs often lack centralized training options; this guidebook seeks to fill that void. This project is a streamlined, introductory-level guide for volunteers and community members working …

Food Insecurity In Vermont Households: An Analysis Of The Association With Tobacco Use, Alcohol Consumption And Physical Inactivity, Hannah R. Kaufman, Kyleigh Savoie, Emily Belanger, Kijonna Bowman, Darren Childs, Hendrika Maltby

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objectives: To assess the relationship between chronic disease risk behaviors: tobacco usage, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, and food insecurity (FI) among Vermonters. Methods: This cross-sectional study uses a sample (n= 1,378) from Vermont’s 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The examined outcome is FI. The predictor measures were defined as at-risk tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and sedentary lifestyles.The following were established as covariates on the association between the dependent and independent variables: income, sex, age, race/ethnicity, and activity limitations. Results: In the unadjusted binomial logistic regression (Table 2), tobacco users were 3.32 times more likely to be food …

A Qualitative Study Of The Genesis Of A Community Food Pantry For Students Of Higher Education, Elizabeth Fast

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this case study was to understand the development of a food pantry for students of higher education at a Midwestern university.

Methods: The researchers recruited 11 individuals on the food pantry’s board using a snowball sampling method to participate in a 30-minute interview about the food pantry’s development from conception to implementation. The interviews were transcribed and then qualitatively analyzed by two researchers. The researchers coded interviews separately to identify frequent commonalities between participant responses. The researchers then organized the codes into themes, which were then summarized in the results of this study.

Results: The first …

Identification Of High-Risk Food Coping Strategies Of Maine Food Pantry Clients, Kathryn Cutting

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Food coping strategies are strategies adopted by individuals in order to obtain enough food for themselves and their family. Food coping strategies can range from using coupons (couponing) and buying in bulk to skipping meals and stealing food. Although not all strategies are considered to be high risk, all strategies should be accounted for so that nutrition education programming caters to strategies that individuals are employing. This topic has not been widely researched in the United States. The purpose of this study was to identify common food coping strategies of food pantry clients across nine counties in Maine, explore identified …

Health Disparities Among South Asians: Is Food Insecurity The Missing Link?, Valentina Chawdhury

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Objective: Food insecurity among South Asians in the US is a public health issue. Food insecure adults face a plethora of adverse outcomes and research shows that individuals with ancestral origins from South Asia have a higher susceptibility rate for cardiovascular disease after migrating to urban environments. As such, the goal of this study was to research possible barriers South Asians face when creating cultural dishes in the US.

Methods: This was a convergent parallel mixed-methods analysis to understand how South Asians feel about food insecurity. Pricing and availability of cultural food items were obtained from South Asian and Western …

Increasing Food Security: Developing And Testing A Nutrition Education Curriculum For A Mobile Food Pantry, Alexandra Lepecha, Kathleen M. Kraft

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Background: The Neighborhood Produce Market (NPM) is a food distribution model similar to a mobile food pantry. NPM stakeholders observed a lack of community engagement and familiarity with produce offered.

Project Description: The objective was to develop a nutrition education curriculum for NPM volunteers to better engage families and community members by providing food samples, recipes, and nutrition education. A stakeholder steering committee guided the needs assessment, curriculum development, volunteer training, and pilot test. The curriculum consisted of food safety, cultural considerations, and nutritional information for nine produce items and food tasting procedures and recipes. Seven student volunteers were trained …

Increasing Low-Income Residents’ Access To Fresh Produce Through A Local Mobile Pantry, Laura Wasson

Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Seeds that Feed (STF) is a mobile food pantry located in Fayetteville, Arkansas. STF receives produce from local farmers to distribute to residents in low-income housing sites throughout Northwest Arkansas. According to Feeding America, food insecurity affected 14.3% Washington County, Arkansas’ population in 2016. The purpose of this study was to determine if STF’s model is an effective way to increase individuals’ access to fresh fruits and vegetables and increase their potential to meet the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Patterns (USDA-FP) for to fruit and vegetable consumption. Twenty-three participants from three sites completed the study. A survey was …

The Effects Of Highlighting Healthy Options On Consumer Food Choices In A Food Bank Setting, Kaitlin Nicole Grabow

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of highlighting healthy food options on consumer food choices in a food bank setting.

Methods: Two community food banks participated in this study. One food bank served as the control, while a second food bank was rearranged so that fresh produce and other healthy products were the first options that shoppers encountered upon entering. After shopping, carts were inventoried for healthy vs non-healthy products. Composition of the carts from the control food bank were then compared to the contents of the carts from the intervention food bank.

Results: A …

Food Insecurity And Produce Behaviors Of Adults With Children In Rural, Appalachian Mississippi, Tiffany Shirley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adults living in food insecure households consume fewer fruits and vegetables than adults living in food secure households (Hanson & Connor, 2014). The purpose of this study was to examine differences in fruit and vegetable behaviors (intakes; perceptions) of parents of elementary school children by food security status (food secure compared to food insecure; fully food secure compared to not fully food secure) in rural, Appalachian Mississippi. A cross-sectional survey of parents (n=1144) recruited from three elementary schools in rural, Appalachian Mississippi utilized validated measures of produce behaviors: 1) fruit, vegetable, and total produce intakes; 2) perceived benefits of barriers …

Determining The Physical And Social Barriers That Prevent Food-Insecure Students At The University Of Arkansas From Using The Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Campus Food Pantry, Sarah Elizabeth Yanniello

Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the reasons why 38% of the students at the University of Arkansas experience food insecurity, yet only 1% of students have used the Jane B. Gearhart Full Circle Campus Food Pantry, in hopes to provide a guide to the Center for Community Engagement in their endeavors to reduce food insecurity on campus (Lisnic, 2016). An online survey was created using Qualtrics software, was submitted to and approved by the University of Arkansas Institutional Review Board, and was distributed to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Arkansas. The sample size …

Effectiveness Of Student Led Hunger Relief Project Towards Food Waste Recovery And Nutritional Impact In Low Income Communities, Victoria Holland

Health Sciences Student Work

Introduction: According to the USDA, 12.3% (15.6 million) of U.S. households were food insecure in 2016 due to contributing factors such as lack of food accessibility and the prevalent food waste in the U.S. An estimated 40% of food is thrown away each year and contributions to this food waste include an estimated 22 million pounds of unconsumed foods discarded in college campuses around the U.S. Programs have been developed to target this food waste epidemic while combatting Americans malnutrition. Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) is an innovative student led hunger relief program which recovers food from college campus kitchens and …

Food Insecurity And Age Of Menarche: Using A Biocultural Approach And Life History Theory To Assess Risks Of Food Insecurity Among Girls In Tampa Bay, Fl, Mecca Burris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using life-history theory within a biocultural perspective, this research explores whether household food insecurity correlates with early or delayed menarche among adolescent females in Tampa Bay, Florida. Early onset of puberty and menstruation is connected with numerous health consequences including growth stunting, obesity, type-2 diabetes, adult-onset asthma, reproductive cancers, increased risk for depression, behavioral problems, and early sexual activity which increases the risk for STIs and ovarian cancer. Early menarche also seems to disproportionally impact disadvantaged and minority groups. While there are many known factors that influence age at menarche (e.g.: genetics, diet), little is understood regarding the effect of …

Characterizing Food Insecurity At A Northeast Land-Grant University, Alana Ruth Davidson

Honors Theses and Capstones

In 2015, 15.8 million U.S. households were food insecure. While nationally food insecurity is assessed at the household and childhood level, university students are not explicitly monitored. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of food insecurity at a northeast land grant university and characterize the contributing factors. A pilot study (n=211) was conducted in fall 2014 among a general nutrition class and found that 12.4% of students were food insecure, with another 5.7% reported marginal food security. A larger, university wide survey among graduate and undergraduate students was conducted in fall 2015 (n=943) and found that …

A "Default Option" While Online Grocery Shopping To Enhance Nutrition Within A Food Insecure Population, Jaime Ashley Coffino

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

There is a need for sustainable interventions that improve diet-related health within the food insecure community. We examined if use of a “default” prefilled online grocery shopping cart, compared to nutrition education, would result in the purchase of healthier food items. Fifty participants (M age = 46.4 ± 12.46 years; M body mass index = 28.59 ± 6.48 kg/m2; 74.0% male) were randomized to: (1) read a brochure containing nutrition information (n = 23) or (2) be presented with a “default” prefilled online shopping cart containing groceries that meet nutritional guidelines to which they could freely make changes before completing …

Food Insecurity And Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Among Regional And Remote Western Australian Children: Determinants, Prevalence And Predictors, Stephanie Louise Godrich

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Living in a community with adequate availability of nutritious food, and the capacity to access and utilise it, are key food security determinants (FSD). However, inequities relating to these determinants exist between regional and remote Western Australian (WA) communities, particularly regarding fruit and vegetables (F&V). This negatively impacts vulnerable populations, especially children. In order to understand determinants, prevalence and predictors of F&V and food security (FS), three concepts were explored in this PhD; (1) F&V consumption among regional and remote WA children (including determinants of F&V consumption, quantities, types, varieties of F&V consumed); (2) FS among regional and remote WA …

The Human And Environmental Health Impacts Of Food Quality Among Emergency Food Providers, Alexina Cather

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

Human health and environmental health are inextricably entwined, and the ways in which we grow, process, package, transport, market, and consume food are critical factors for both human and environmental health. The current industrial food system in the United States has numerous adverse effects on environmental and human health, which significantly impact the millions of food insecure Americans who receive their nutritional needs from emergency food providers (American Public Health Association, 2007). The widespread food insecurity in the United States and the increasing prevalence of obesity among adults and children have drawn attention to the role that emergency food …

Community Readiness Assessment: Applications For Community Nutrition Research, Whitney E. Houser

All Master's Theses

Trends in qualitative community nutrition research demonstrate a powerful, emerging perspective in the midst of a field historically dominated by quantitative methods of inquiry. For this qualitative study, ten key respondents were purposively selected and interviewed using the Community Readiness Model (CRM) to capture community knowledge of food insecurity issues and strategies. Data were analyzed using anchored rating scales, revealing readiness at a stage three, characterized by a vague awareness of local food insecurity. The purpose of this study is to report on the strengths and challenges of the CRM experienced when utilizing the model to address food insecurity. The …

Nutritional Content Of Supplemental Food Baskets Distributed By Charitable Agencies In Northeast Tennessee., Lillian Khalili Aliata

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the nutritional needs of high-risk community members are met by supplemental food baskets distributed by charitable groups in northeast Tennessee. Hunger is a real problem among the area's elderly population, as 14.3% of the populations live at or below the poverty level. Data were collected using observation interviews at the food bank. A nutrient analysis tool was used to analyze the nutrient content of food items in a standard food basket. The findings were compared to the recommended dietary allowance for the elderly population. The supplemental food basket was adequate in …