Table 2.

Climate change and health perception and behavior ranking for undergraduate students surveyed at universities in California (CA) (n=721) and Michigan (MI) (n=568)

	University in CA				University in MI
I try to make food and beverage choices thata…	n	Mean (SD)	p-valueb	% Agreec	n	Mean (SD)	p-valueb	% Agreec
Are good for the environment	721	3.7 (1.6)	<0.001	30.4	568	4.0 (1.5)	<0.001	34.7
Reduce my impact on climate change	721	3.6 (1.7)	<0.001	29.4	568	4.0 (1.5)	<0.001	34.9
Are good for my health	721	5.4 (1.3)	(ref)	78.6	568	5.3 (1.2)	(ref)	79.8
This is an effective way of combatting climate changed:	n	Mean (SD)	p-valueb	% Effectivee	n	Mean (SD)	p-valueb	% Effectivee
Eat local, seasonal foods	665	3.1 (0.8)	0.15	81.4	517	3.2 (0.8)	<0.001	84.5
Drive less	710	3.4 (0.7)	<0.001	93.0	559	3.5 (0.8)	<0.001	87.8
Eat organic foods	651	2.8 (0.9)	<0.001	61.6	503	2.5 (0.9)	<0.001	50.1
Use less plastic	707	3.6 (0.6)	<0.001	95.1	556	3.6 (0.7)	<0.001	92.2
Save energy at home	708	3.4 (0.7)	<0.001	91.2	554	3.5 (0.7)	<0.001	90.6
Recycle	706	3.4 (0.7)	<0.001	91.8	556	3.3 (0.8)	0.68	84.4
Eat less meat	669	3.2 (0.9)	(ref)	75.6	545	3.3 (0.9)	(ref)	81.3

^aStudents were asked how much they agree with the statement “I try to make food and beverage choices that… are good for the environment, reduce my impact on climate change, are good for my health”. Scale of 1–7, 1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree

^bp-value indicates statistical significance of within-person comparison of perceptions compared to the reference category using paired t-tests

^cPercentage of students responding as agree or highly agree

^dStudents were asked “For each of the lifestyle changes, indicate whether you think this is an effective way of combatting climate change: eat local, seasonal foods; eat less meat; drive less; eat organic foods; use less plastic; save energy at home; recycle”. Scale of 1–4, 1= not effective at all to 4=highly effective

^ePercentage of students reporting behavior as effective or highly effective