Not surprisingly, dietary quality 7 and food access 8 (i.e., unused meal plans and type of meal plans) are lower, while anxiety and depression are higher among food insecure (FI) college students 9. Among college students, food insecurity has shown a persistent association with poorer physical, mental, and academic health outcomes 5. While more work is required to accurately capture food insecurity among college students 6, food insecurity prevalence among college students is consistently reported to be 3–5 times higher than the national average 5. This, along with increased college access among low-income, underrepresented populations, may explain why 35–42% of college students appear to be at greater risk for food insecurity 5. College often marks an important transitory period where emerging adults gain independence not only in living situations and economic factors but also health behaviors including diet, physical activity, and sleep 4. Food insecurity is related to poor dietary quality 2 and increased risk for chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease 3. Further work is needed to elucidate the longitudinal metabolic effects of food insecurity and how gut microbes influence metabolic outcomes.įood insecurity, a socio-cultural construct tied to the lack of consistent access to healthy food, is a persistent public health problem that affects populations across the lifespan 1. These findings suggest that food insecurity is associated with differential gut microbial and metabolite composition for which the future implications are unknown. Metabolites related to energy transfer and gut–brain-axis communication (picolinic acid, phosphocreatine, 2-pyrrolidinone) were elevated in FI students ( q < 0.05). FI students experienced significantly greater microbial diversity with increased abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and Eisenbergiella, while FS students had greater abundance of Megasphaera and Holdemanella. Gut microbiome and metabolome were established using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, targeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Fecal samples were collected up to 5 days post survey-completion. Students were dichotomized into food secure (FS) and food insecure (FI) groups using a validated, 2-question screener assessing food security status over the previous 30 days.

In this study we compared the fecal microbiome and metabolome of racially and ethnically diverse first year college students ( n = 60) experiencing different levels of food access.

However, these findings may not translate to food insecurity, where an individual experiences inconsistent access to healthy food options. Voluntary caloric restriction (e.g., eating disorders) often results in alterations in the gut microbiota composition and function.

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