Impact of COVID-19 stress on food insecurity and fruit and vegetable consumption among college students

Did COVID-19 influence fruit and vegetable consumption? Explaining and comparing pandemic peak and post-peak periods

The COVID-19 pandemic, one of the worst global health crises in the last century, impacted nearly every aspect of people's lives, including their dietary choices and food consumption patterns. It arrived during a long shift in American diets featuring increasingly large portions of processed foods as well as fruit and vegetable consumption that is well below recommended levels. Improving the latter has been a key part of policymakers' efforts to improve consumers' diets. This study surveyed individuals in the US South to determine the factors influencing their consumption of fruit and vegetables during the pandemic peak and how these have changed post-peak. During the peak, food venue, demographics, and concerns about diet and the seriousness of the virus heavily affected consumption. Greater amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables were consumed post-peak pandemic. Changes post-peak were predicted by food venue. Cooking meals at home was the main positive predictor for consumption. US policymakers should try and leverage the changes since the peak to promote greater consumption of fruit and vegetables.

Methods for Assessing Health Outcomes Associated with Food Insecurity in the United States College Student Population: A Narrative Review

In the United States, college students experience disproportionate food insecurity (FI) rates compared to the national prevalence. The experience of acute and chronic FI has been associated with negative physical and mental health outcomes in this population. This narrative review aims to summarize the current methodologies for assessing health outcomes associated with the experience of FI in college students in the United States. To date, assessing the health outcomes of FI has predominately consisted of subjective assessments, such as self-reported measures of dietary intake, perceived health status, stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep behaviors. This review, along with the emergence of FI as an international public health concern, establishes the need for novel, innovative, and objective biomarkers to evaluate the short- and long-term impacts of FI on physical and mental health outcomes in college students. The inclusion of objective biomarkers will further elucidate the relationship between FI and a multitude of health outcomes to better inform strategies for reducing the pervasiveness of FI in the United States college student population.

Relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and internet addiction with insomnia and depression as multiple mediators during the COVID-19 pandemic: a three-wave longitudinal study in Chinese college students

BACKGROUND

The relationships between fruit and vegetable consumption (FV) and Internet addiction (IA) in college students still remained unknown together with the internal mechanisms. Given the limitations of previous cross-sectional design, longitudinal research was necessary to be conducted to explore more precise correlations. Using the three-wave data in a longitudinal design, this study aimed to explore the association between FV and IA among Chinese college students and potential multiple mediators of insomnia and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A total of 579 college students were recruited during three waves (T1: August 2020; T2: November 2020; T3: February 2021). FV (T1), insomnia (T2), depression (T2) and IA (T3) symptoms were reported. The descriptive statistics of the sociodemographic characteristics and correlation analyses of the study variables were calculated. The significance of the mediation effects was measured conducting a bootstrap method with SPSS PROCESS macro.

RESULTS

FV was negatively correlated with IA, and lower FV predicted higher risk of IA. Depression mediated the association between FV and subsequent IA. Insomnia and depression were multiple mediators, which in turn mediated the links between FV and subsequent IA.

CONCLUSIONS

The three-wave longitudinal study has revealed that FV had indirect effects on IA through individual mediating factor of depression and multiple mediating roles of insomnia and depression sequentially. The policy makers, educators and researchers should pay attention to the impact of the interventions from healthy diet, in order to optimize the coping strategies for preventing college students from IA.

Food Insecurity in Higher Education: A Contemporary Review of Impacts and Explorations of Solutions

Food insecurity is a global phenomenon which impacts a variety of social, economic, and life-stage groups. One such group affected by food insecurity is college students, who tend to experience food insecurity at a prevalence which exceeds the average of their local communities. The impacts of food insecurity in this population are multifaceted and have implications for their college experience and beyond. Food insecurity has been observed to have negative effects on college student academic performance, physical health, and mental health. This review explores the impacts of and solutions for food insecurity in this population globally, with particular emphasis on the United States, and specifically California.