No one to cook healthy, homemade meals

No one being on top of your nutritional health

"“...eating behavior during…college years is influenced by home environments, which includes the types of foods stocked at home. The types of food available and…parental eating/food behavior” (Tamang).

Stress - the body's reaction to a challenge or difficult situation; characterized by a state of emotional, mental, and/or physical tension

"...students who are focused on eating healthily dedicate a lot of time to planning ahead" (Dina Nikolaou, research fellow in public health nutrition at the University of Greenwich in London).

Students living off-campus select different foods in comparison to those living on-campus (Despande)

"Students living off-campus reported a higher percentage of energy from protein" (Despande).

Due to the lack of time/inability to prepare foods, students resort to mindless snacking or on-the-go processed foods

“foods that have high sugar and carbohydrates” is what triggers “...a boost to dopamine and neurotransmitters that make us feel better…so the next time we feel stressed, we repeat those behaviors'' (Tamang).

Food insecurity - inconsistent access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life

2015-16: 33% of U.S. college students reported food insecurity, in comparison to only 11.8% in U.S. households

Students who reported food security claim to be financially independent from their family, meaning that they depend on themselves for a means of [economic] stability and survival

Females had the tendency of eating more fatty foods in comparison to males

• Possible cause: hormonal imbalance, menstruating, etc.

Females are more price-cognizant in comparison to males

Females tend to be more weight-concerned

Study reported that a student with a 14 meals/week meal plan went hungry for a few days after using all of their meal wipes earlier on in the week

43% of students reported food insecurity even with a meal plan

Students suffering from mental health conditions may starve themselves and not take advantage of their meal plan offered through college dining halls

When you're stressed, you're more likely to suffer from lack of sleep, therefore you'll spend more hours of the day awake, and can be more susceptible to stress-eating