Intervention to Mitigate Food Insecurity Among TWU First-Year Students (Denton Campus)

This study tested whether an online food literacy (FL) course + food assistance intervention would improve food security (FS) and FL among TWU first-year students. Students were randomized to intervention (n=7) or control groups (n=6). Students in the intervention group participated in a 6-week FL online course and received food every 2 weeks during 11 weeks. Both groups answered pre-, mid-, and post-intervention surveys assessing FS and FL. Friedman test assessed changes in FL scores over time while the Mann-Whitney U test assessed changes between groups. Observed Marginal Homogeneity assessed changes in FS status over time while crosstabulations assessed changes between groups. Overall, FS did not change over time and was not different between groups, while FL total score (p=.034), food selection (p=.015), and food preparation (p=.014) were better in intervention at mid-point than control participants. An adequately powered study is warranted to further test the efficacy of this approach.