Frequency and Attributing Factors to Food Insecurity Experienced by Professional Athletic Training Students

Context Many college students struggle with food insecurity due to limited income and competing financial interests for tuition and housing. Students in health care professions may be at an even higher risk of food insecurity; for instance, researchers have indicated that over 50% of nursing students experience food insecurity. However, little is known about the frequency and attributing factors to food insecurity in professional athletic training students. Objective To investigate the frequency and attributing factors of food insecurity experienced by professional athletic training students. Design Cross-sectional study. Patients or Other Participants One hundred sixteen participants completed the survey (11.6% completion rate). Twenty-four were males, and 92 were females. Main Outcome Measure(s) Participants received an e-mail with a link to the online survey by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Research Survey Services. Participants completed the US Household Food Security Survey Module: Six-Item Short Form to identify food insecurity frequency, along with demographic questions and questions about dietary habits, academic demands, and mental health to identify factors that may contribute to food insecurity. We used a series of χ 2 tests to determine if any significant group differences existed between food security groups and the personal and demographic questions. Results One hundred sixteen participants completed the survey; 35.3% reported having high or marginal food security, 37.1% reported low food security, and 27.6% reported very low food security. We found that participants with high to marginal food security were more likely to live with family or a spouse. Conclusions Over 60% of professional athletic training students reported low to very low food security. Professional athletic training programs should be aware of this risk and create policies to help ease the challenges to food security among their students.