What is it about?
About 40% of students in California's public university system experience hunger, also referred to as food insecurity. This study focused on connection between student hunger, mental health and academic performance during college years. The finding showed that, in a sample of 8,705 college students in California's public university system, students who experienced food insecurity were likely to report a lower grade point average and have an increased risk for poor mental health.
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Why is it important?
This study is important because, while college students may be viewed as a “privileged group,” student hunger undermines their mental well-being and academic success. Improving food security in this population could have both positive mental health and economic impacts. These findings can be used to inform future policy on the importance of providing students with the basic needs to ensure academic and future success.
Perspectives
This article is one of the first to look at student hunger, mental health and GPA, especially in college students. Student hunger in college students may be one of the biggest public health issues since the Great Recession in a time with when college is the most unaffordable and federal student financial aid is at an all time low. These findings should be used to help inform policies around increasing student access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and increasing the federal Pell grant.
Suzanna Martinez
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: No food for thought: Food insecurity is related to poor mental health and lower academic performance among students in California’s public university system, Journal of Health Psychology, June 2018, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1359105318783028.
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