Table 4.
Adjusted ORs† for the characteristics of college students from a large university in south-eastern USA in October and November 2016 by food security status using the four-level food security variable
| Marginal food security | Low food security | Very low food security | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AOR | 95 % CI | AOR | 95 % CI | AOR | 95 % CI | |
| Age (years) | 0·95*** | 0·92, 0·97 | 0·98 | 0·96, 1·01 | 1·02 | 0·98, 1·07 |
| Gender | ||||||
| Female | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Male | 0·97 | 0·82, 1·16 | 1·18 | 0·98, 1·42 | 1·86** | 1·28, 2·70 |
| Other | 0·69 | 0·25, 1·93 | 1·21 | 0·49, 3·00 | 3·19 | 0·94, 10·77 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Asian | 0·83 | 0·65, 1·06 | 0·93 | 0·72, 1·21 | 1·41 | 0·87, 2·31 |
| Hispanic | 1·63*** | 1·23, 2·17 | 1·27 | 0·91, 1·76 | 1·71 | 0·89, 3·29 |
| African American | 1·84*** | 1·30, 2·62 | 3·04*** | 2·18, 4·24 | 5·38*** | 3·05, 9·52 |
| American Indian | 2·47 | 0·92, 6·63 | 1·70 | 0·50, 5·78 | 5·10 | 0·59, 43·73 |
| Multiracial/other | 1·09 | 0·75, 1·58 | 1·32 | 0·90, 1·93 | 1·77 | 0·85, 3·72 |
| Marital status | ||||||
| Not married | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Married | 0·93 | 0·71, 1·23 | 0·56*** | 0·40, 0·78 | 0·25** | 0·11, 0·59 |
| Dependent children | ||||||
| No | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Yes | 1·08 | 0·65, 1·81 | 2·38*** | 1·44, 3·93 | 6·39*** | 2·50, 16·34 |
| Year in school | ||||||
| Freshman | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Sophomore | 1·30 | 0·96, 1·75 | 1·77*** | 1·30, 2·41 | 2·43* | 1·22, 4·81 |
| Junior | 1·70** | 1·23, 2·36 | 1·62** | 1·14, 2·30 | 2·61** | 1·26, 5·41 |
| Senior | 1·86*** | 1·30, 2·66 | 1·59* | 1·09, 2·33 | 2·00 | 0·91, 4·36 |
| Graduate | 1·37 | 0·91, 2·07 | 0·86 | 0·55, 1·32 | 0·63 | 0·26, 1·55 |
| Other | 1·44 | 0·43, 4·81 | 1·75 | 0·55, 5·57 | 1·97 | 0·19, 20·34 |
| International student | ||||||
| No | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Yes | 1·55* | 1·10, 2·19 | 1·32 | 0·89, 1·94 | 2·51** | 1·31, 4·80 |
| Enrolment status | ||||||
| Full-time | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Part-time | 0·66 | 0·44, 1·01 | 0·69 | 0·44, 1·08 | 0·50 | 0·18, 1·34 |
| Residency | ||||||
| Off-campus | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| On-campus | 1·13 | 0·87, 1·47 | 1·08 | 0·81, 1·42 | 1·17 | 0·70, 1·96 |
| Employment status | ||||||
| Unemployed | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| ≥1 part-time jobs | 1·27** | 1·08, 1·50 | 1·63*** | 1·36, 1·96 | 1·52* | 1·03, 2·22 |
| Full-time job | 1·13 | 0·85, 1·51 | 1·18 | 0·85, 1·64 | 1·21 | 0·58, 2·52 |
| Have car | ||||||
| No | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Yes | 0·94 | 0·77, 1·15 | 0·80* | 0·64, 0·99 | 0·80 | 0·52, 1·22 |
| Financial aid | ||||||
| No | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Yes | 1·26** | 1·07, 1·48 | 1·73*** | 1·45, 2·08 | 2·16*** | 1·44, 3·23 |
| Perceived health rating | ||||||
| Excellent | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Good | 1·98*** | 1·67, 2·34 | 3·22*** | 2·64, 3·94 | 6·59*** | 3·62, 11·99 |
| Fair | 3·20*** | 2·39, 4·28 | 7·11*** | 5·26, 9·62 | 34·08*** | 17·49, 66·40 |
| Poor | 1·53 | 0·54, 4·30 | 9·95*** | 4·76, 20·79 | 101·67*** | 36·73, 281·43 |
| Weight status | ||||||
| Underweight | 1·14 | 0·75, 1·72 | 1·44 | 0·94, 2·21 | 1·09 | 0·45, 2·59 |
| Normal weight | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Overweight | 1·18 | 0·98, 1·42 | 1·07 | 0·88, 1·30 | 0·77 | 0·50, 1·17 |
| Obese | 1·18 | 0·89, 1·55 | 0·92 | 0·68, 1·23 | 0·39** | 0·21, 0·76 |
| Cooking frequency | ||||||
| Never | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Sometimes | 1·58*** | 1·21, 2·06 | 1·57** | 1·19, 2·09 | 2·62** | 1·38, 4·98 |
| Often | 1·54** | 1·13, 2·11 | 1·69** | 1·21, 2·36 | 3·14** | 1·50, 6·56 |
| Perceived cooking skills | ||||||
| Poor | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Fair | 0·88 | 063, 1·24 | 0·69* | 0·49, 0·98 | 0·47* | 0·24, 0·92 |
| Good | 0·90 | 0·64, 1·26 | 0·75 | 0·54, 1·06 | 0·60 | 0·31, 1·14 |
| Excellent | 0·82 | 0·56, 1·19 | 0·79 | 0·54, 1·16 | 0·67 | 0·33, 1·39 |
| Meal plan | ||||||
| No | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. | 1·00 | Ref. |
| Yes | 0·70** | 0·53, 0·92 | 0·65** | 0·49, 0·86 | 0·73 | 0·43, 1·26 |
AOR, adjusted OR.
*P < 0·05, **P < 0·01, ***P < 0·001.
†
Multinomial logistic regression was used with high food security as the reference group. Variables included in the models are age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, dependent children, year in school, international student, enrolment status, residency, employment status, have car, financial aid, perceived health rating, BMI, cooking frequency, perceived cooking skills and meal plan.