Food Literacy and Mental Health Among College Students Using Campus Food Pantry Services in a Historically Black Institution in the United States

Objectives: To explore food literacy and measures of mental health and wellbeing amongst college students who use campus food pantries (CFPs) from a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Methods: Data was obtained from an exploratory qualitative study with an embedded quantitative survey that was conducted in an HBCU in the US (summer 2022-spring 2023). In addition to completing in-depth interviews, students were asked to complete a short Qualtrics survey with questions related to their demographic characteristics, eating and food literacy behaviors, psychosocial well-being, and mental health. Previously validated tools were used including, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), 9-item self-reported depression scale, and the World Health Organization (five) Index (WHO-5) to assess overall subjective psychological well-being. Results: Out of 22 student interviews, 19 had complete data on food literacy and mental health outcomes. Only 37% or less of CFP users considered health and nutritional aspects of food when making their food decisions, including cooking healthy foods (n=7), choosing nutritionally balanced meals (n =7), and reading nutrition information before food purchases (n=6). In addition, limited food preparation and meal planning skills were reported. Yet, most CFP users reported taste and convenience to be 'often or always' considered when making food choices. Using the PHQ-9, 8 (42%) of pantry users were moderately to severely depressed while the average WHO-5 score was 43.37 (SD = 18.07) [on a scale from 0-100 with 100 representing optimal well-being]. Results aligned with themes that previously emerged from interviews with students reflecting limited nutrition literacy among CFP users and the need for incorporating nutrition education in pantry services. Conclusions: Findings highlight that CFP users may have suboptimal eating and food literacy behaviors along with poor measures of subjective wellbeing. Future studies can help further examine associations between food access and diet quality of pantry users and test the effectiveness of educational and environmental interventions on college students' food literacy and other measures of health and wellbeing. Funding Sources: This study received intramural funding from the College of Health and Sciences at the North Carolina Central University (NCCU).