Are College Students who Cut or Skip Meals More Prone to Experience Depression?

Abstract

College students will often reduce or limit their food intake for multiple reasons, including food insecurity, which often leads to the development of poor eating habits. These newly developed habits can impact students in different ways, including affecting their mental health. The aim of the observational, cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship between skipping meals due to a lack of financial resources and depression severity among college students. This study was conducted to examine this relationship in a private, Catholic university in the northeast of the United States. Our study was comprised of 271 students at Sacred Heart University’s College of Health Professions who participated in the 2021 Pioneer Student Health and Well-Being Survey. Results demonstrated that approximately 63.2% of the students experienced some level of depression, ranging from mild to severe. Additionally, 43% reported reducing the size of their meals or skipping meals due to a lack of funds. Chi-square analyses revealed a strong, statistically significant inverse relationship between reducing meals and the severity of depression among college students (p \u3c 0.001); the more students reduced food intake, the more the severity of depression increased. These results highlight the need to further analyze the prevalence of food insecurity among college students in the wealthiest county in Connecticut. Food insecurity on Sacred Heart University’s campus may be overlooked due to the upper middle-class stereotype of the university and its students. Expanding resources to provide support, such as increasing access to food pantries, could help address food insecurity on campus