Co-designing an intervention to improve food security and healthy eating among university students
Co-designing an intervention to improve food security and healthy eating among university students
Co-designing an intervention with university students and stakeholders to reduce food insecurity and improve access and affordability of fruit and vegetables for university students
About the project
The prevalence of food insecurity in Australia was estimated to be up to 15% before the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was a significant increase in the need for food relief since the COVID-19 outbreak. University students have been identified as a new at-risk population group for food insecurity.
This project aims to co-design an intervention with university students and other stakeholders to reduce food insecurity and improve access and affordability of fruit and vegetables. Using a co-design approach, university students and stakeholders will discuss options and be involved in the design process to ensure that the interventions meet their needs and expectations. Moreover, they are able to share their experiences in solving food insecurity issues among university students.
Understanding university students’ eating habits on campus will help identify appropriate interventions to reduce food insecurity and improve access and affordability of fruit and vegetables.
Survey 2024
Thank you so much for your interest and participation. The survey is now closed. If you have any questions, please contact us at dhs.foodenvironment@mq.edu.au
Research output
UniFood Australia 2023
Macquarie University was one of nine Australian Universities across four states (VIC, TAS, QLD, NSW) that was assessed the extent to which university food environments are healthy, equitable and sustainable using the Uni-Food tool in 2022. Please read the full report of the Uni-Food Australia 2023: Benchmarking the healthiness, equity and environmental sustainability of university food environments in Australia which has been released by Deakin University.
Survey 2020
This survey was conducted from July to September 2020 and we found a high prevalence of food insecurity among university students (41.9%) and psychological distress (52.2%, with high and very high levels). You can read about the findings here.
Survey 2022
We concluded the survey in early January 2023. Thank you to all our participants and those who have shown an interest in this research.
The findings from the observation and qualitative study can be found here. The key findings are (1) the need for better governance and leadership of the food environment; (2) the main barriers to accessing healthy foods were related to availability, pricing, and knowledge of healthy foods; (3) future intervention ideas included free fruits and vegetables, food relief, discounts, improved self-catering facilities, education, and increased healthy food outlets.
The findings from the survey can be found here. The survey found that 46.4% of respondents were food insecure, with only 5.1% meeting recommended vegetable intake and 46.2% meeting fruit intake guidelines. Low fruit consumption was linked to food insecurity, driven by perceived lower accessibility and higher costs. A free fruit and vegetable campaign was the most popular proposed program, focusing on affordability and access. These results highlight a link between food insecurity and low fruit and vegetable consumption in university students. Based on these findings, we propose framework of campus food and nutrition security.
Project funding
This project is funded by the Macquarie University Research Acceleration Scheme 2021.
Research team
- Associate Professor Seema Mihrshahi
- Dr Josephine Chau
- Dr Miriam Williams
- Dr Rimante Ronto
- Dr Stephanie Partridge
- Putu Novi Arfirsta Dharmayani
- Jemma Keat
- Carla Vanessa Alves Lopes
- Nadia Farnaz
- Taylah Scutt
Further information
For further information please contact us at dhs.foodenvironment@mq.edu.au