Purpose: A student-specific definition of basic needs for higher education is warranted to inform programs and policies for underserved students. The purpose of this study was to: 1) explore how students define basic needs, 2) understand experiences of housing insecurity, and 3) understand experiences of food insecurity within the context of housing insecurity. Design: Qualitative research elicited student perceptions of basic needs and experiences of housing and food insecurity. Setting: Focus group discussions were conducted at 5 University of California campuses between February and March 2019. Participants: Undergraduate (n = 37) and graduate (n = 21) students were recruited from campus basic needs centers. Methods: Each student completed a brief survey. Researchers conducted 11 focus groups using a semi-structured interview guide. Transcripts were coded to identify themes. Results: Students were female (76%), age 23.6 (SD = 5.8) years; 46% were Pell grant recipients; and 52% were first-generation college students. Most had experienced food insecurity (98%) and 26% had experienced homelessness. Eight themes were identified: 1) students define basic needs as more than minimal food and shelter and as the responsibility of students and the university, 2) students encounter multifaceted housing insecurity issues, 3) affording rent is a priority that most often leads to experiencing food insecurity, 4) transportation barriers interfere with meeting students’ basic needs to succeed as students, 5) students with nontraditional characteristics, graduate students, and out-of-state students face unique challenges in meeting basic needs, 6) limited financial aid and lack of financial aid guidance are barriers to meeting basic needs, 7) fees contribute additional challenges to students meeting basic needs, and 8) additional university basic needs services are essential. Conclusion: A student-informed definition of basic needs included food, housing, mental health, sleep, hygiene, and transportation. This understanding of basic needs can inform future research, programs, and policy to address housing insecurity in higher education.
Human diets and their associated environmental impacts differ across segments of the population. There is evidence that consumer choices of food intake can also affect the overall environmental impacts of a food system. This paper analyzes the environmental impact of diets and food choices across a rural–urban transect in Northern Vietnam by using mixed survey data from 619 adult respondents. The average greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) resulting from producing the daily food intake of adults in the urban and peri-urban districts were similar, while the average in the rural district was lower. Although starchy staples contributed the most to energy intake, pork and beef were the largest contributors to GHGE. Metrics of blue water use were higher for diets of males than those of females in all three districts. Interestingly, the difference in mean diet diversity score between urban and rural households was significant, and females’ diets were more diverse than those of males. As expected, urban households were more likely to buy food, while rural households often produced their own foods. Urban households reported prioritizing personal health and the natural content of food and would increase seafood and fruits if their income were to increase. In rural regions, interventions aimed at reducing undernutrition should address improving diet quality without significant increases to diet-related environmental impacts.
US Latinx populations are disproportionally affected by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with higher rates of infection and associated morbidity and mortality. 1 Although often treated as homogeneous, members of Latinx communities vary by national origin, immigration status, and language. 2 Oakland, California, is home to many Latinx individuals and an estimated 10 000 Mayan individuals, many of whom speak Indigenous languages. 3 Early in the pandemic, community-based organizations (CBOs) in Oakland, California, observed a high frequency of infections among Latinx individuals in general and even higher frequency among Mayan individuals. 4 Local CBOs,
Objectives:
To examine associations of household crop diversity with school-aged child dietary diversity in Vietnam and Ethiopia and mechanisms underlying these associations.
Design:
We created a child diet diversity score (DDS) using data on seven food groups consumed in the last 24 h. Generalised estimating equations were used to model associations of household-level crop diversity, measured as a count of crop species richness (CSR) and of plant crop nutritional functional richness (CNFR), with DDS. We examined effect modification by household wealth and subsistence orientation, and mediation by the farm’s market orientation.
Setting:
Two survey years of longitudinal data from the Young Lives cohort.
Participants:
Children (aged 5 years in 2006 and 8 years in 2009) from rural farming households in Ethiopia (n 1012) and Vietnam (n 1083).
Results:
There was a small, positive association between household CNFR and DDS in Ethiopia (CNFR–DDS, β = 0·13; (95 % CI 0·07, 0·19)), but not in Vietnam. Associations of crop diversity and child diet diversity were strongest among poor households in Ethiopia and among subsistence-oriented households in Vietnam. Agricultural earnings positively mediated the crop diversity–diet diversity association in Ethiopia.
Discussion:
Children from households that are poorer and those that rely more on their own agricultural production for food may benefit most from increased crop diversity.
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