The prevalence of food insecurity among young adults in faculty of agriculture: a cross-sectional case study of Northwest Turkey

Food insecurity is a lack of safe and reliable access to an adequate supply of nutritious food on a daily basis. This pilot study aimed to determine the prevalence of food insecurity and related socio-demographic factors among Turkish agricultural engineering students. A cross-sectional survey design was used, involving a self-reported questionnaire with 388 agricultural engineering students at canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey. The Na-tional Nutrition Survey and the Household Food Security Survey Module were used in the questionnaire in addi-tion to the students' demographic attributes. Chi-square Independence Tests were used to identify any relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and the food insecurity status of the students. The reported prevalence of food insecurity among Turkish agricultural engineering students is one-third (33.0 %) of the total. It was found that there are significant relationships between food insecurity status and students' year of study, employment sta-tus, grant/credit status and living arrangements. Living and eating conditions for students on campus need to be improved by the provision of low-cost meals, accommodation with basic cooking facilities and food banks.