0238 Campus Food Pantry Assistance is Related to Better Physical And Mental Health Through Adequate Sleep Among College Students in a Public University System

Introduction

Food insecurity is an issue among students in higher education and has been linked to insufficient sleep, and poor mental and general health. College campuses have quickly responded by establishing campus food pantries. However, the extent to which campus food pantries are ameliorating the impacts of food insecurity is unknown.

Methods

Online survey data were collected from a cross-sectional sample of 1,855 students who were food pantry users in the 10-campus UC system. Students were asked to report their number of visits to a food pantry in the past month, and to rate their general health, depressive symptoms, and number of days of enough sleep (in a week) before and after food pantry access. Changes in days of enough sleep, depressive symptoms and general health were computed. Demographic characteristics were obtained from institutional data. Path analysis was used to examine direct and indirect pathways from food pantry use to depressive symptoms and general health through enough sleep days, controlling for workstudy receipt, Pell grant receipt and family income.

Results

Students on average were 21.7 years old (SD= 3.5), and had more days of adequate sleep (25%), and improved depressive symptoms (43%) and general health (31%) after obtaining services from a campus food pantry. An increase in monthly food pantry use was directly related to a decrease in depressive symptoms (β= 0.08, p<0.001) and an increase in general health (β= 0.07, p=0.001). Additionally, an increase in food pantry use related to an increase in getting more days of enough sleep (β=0.07, p=0.001), which in turn positively related to a decrease in depressive symptoms (β=0.18, p<0.001) and improved general health (β=0.24, p<0.001).

Conclusion

Food pantry use had a positive relationship with student health outcomes, and enough sleep days played an important mediating role. Findings suggest that emergency food access may have a positive impact on student health outcomes.

Support

This study was funded by the UC Campus Basic Needs Committees.

Correlates of C-reactive protein levels in young adults: a population-based cohort study of 3827 subjects in Brazil

The socio-demographic, behavioral and anthropometric correlates of C-reactive protein levels were examined in a representative young adult Brazilian population. The 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study (Brazil) recruited over 99% of births in the city of Pelotas that year (N = 5914). Individuals belonging to the cohort have been prospectively followed up. In 2004-2005, 77.4% of the cohort was traced, members were interviewed and 3827 individuals donated blood. Analyses of the outcome were based on a conceptual model that differentiated confounders from potential mediators. The following independent variables were studied in relation to levels of C-reactive protein in sex-stratified analyses: skin color, age, family income, education, parity, body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, fat/fiber/alcohol intake, physical activity, and minor psychiatric disorder. Geometric mean (95% confidence interval) C-reactive protein levels for the 1919 males and 1908 females were 0.89 (0.84-0.94) and 1.96 mg/L (1.85-2.09), respectively. Pregnant women and those using oral contraceptive therapies presented the highest C-reactive protein levels and all sub-groups of women had higher levels than men (P < 0.001). Significant associations between C-reactive protein levels were observed with age, socioeconomic indicators, obesity status, smoking, fat and alcohol intake, and minor psychiatric disorder. Associations were stronger at higher levels of C-reactive protein and some associations were sex-specific. We conclude that both distal (socio-demographic) and proximal (anthropometric and behavioral) factors exert strong effects on C-reactive protein levels and that the former are mediated to some degree by the latter.

Hb A1c in relation to intrauterine growth among male adolescents in southern Brazil

The fetal origins hypothesis states that nutritional deprivation in utero affects fetal development and contributes to the incidence of diseases associated with the metabolic syndrome in later life. This study investigated whether haemoglobin (Hb) A(1c), an indicator of blood glucose, varied among healthy male adolescents according to their fetal growth rate, in a middle-income setting. Participants were men aged 18 years, belonging to the 1982 Pelotas birth cohort. Complete data, including gestational age and Hb A(1c) at age 18 years, were available for 197 individuals. There was an inverse association between mean Hb A(1c) and birthweight for the gestational age, but not birthweight alone. The association remained significant after adjustment for family income and mother's education, as well as for body mass index at 18 years (P for trend=0.01 and 0.03, respectively).