P137 Food Insecure Students Identify Price as the Most Important Determinant of Their Food Choices

Food insecurity is a growing concern among US higher education institutions. Research is needed to understand the impact of food insecurity on food choice priorities when designing interventions for college students.To examine the factors that influence decisions about food between food secure (FS) and food insecure (FI) college students.Cross-sectional study among first year students from eight US universities (N = 857).Food choice priorities (14-item Likert scale survey and priority factor rankings) and food security status (USDA Adult Food Security Module). Independent samples t-tests comparing food choice priorities by student food security status.Food insecurity was prevalent with 19% (n = 163) of students reporting inconsistent access to food in the past year. Compared to FS students, FI students rated price, perceived stress, and the ability to feel full as being significantly more important when making food decisions (P < .05). Conversely, FI students rated convenience and a significant-other as being significantly less important influences on their food choices (P < .05). Among FI students, price was the most important factor (4.35 ± 0.93), followed by taste (3.92 ± 1.09), convenience (3.88 ± 1.05), the ability to feel full (3.73 ± 1.10), health (3.71 ± 1.02), and perceived stress (3.06 ± 1.32). Price was ranked as the primary factor influencing food decisions by 54% of FI students while only 13.4% reported health as their top priority.Findings suggest that FI students are making decisions about food differently than FS students and that price is the most important determinant. Initiatives to address FI should consider and assess how the intervention impacts students’ decisions about food.None.