Nutritional quality of university dining options varies by location, level of convenience, and accessibility: Pilot study perspectives on assessing university food environments

Abstract

College students often fail to meet national guidelines for dietary intake, which in part has been associated with university food environments, where students’ dietary choices may be limited by the nutritional quality of campus food choices, in addition to proximity, hours of operation, and accessibility of dining venues given student course and extracurricular schedules. However, studies that evaluate the comprehensive university food environment, as opposed to focusing specific food options (e.g., dining halls), is limited. Therefore, we investigated whether the nutritional quality of food options varied across different locations and dining venues at a university campus in the northeastern region of the United States in a pilot study, with a focus on nutrients required to be reported by dining venues, and those of interest outlined in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025–2025. Nutrient composition of dietary offerings was collected from locations and venues across campus over the course of one year: 1) the main campus dining hall, and convenience dining options: 2) themed grab-and-go meal stations in a food court, 3) a commercial coffee and bagel shop, and 4) vending machines located in academic buildings and dormitories across campus. We observed that the commercial coffee & bagel shop menu included items with the highest amount of energy, carbohydrates, sugar, total and saturated fat, protein, and sodium on average compared to other dining options. Conversely, the dining hall, which provided the greatest variety of foods and a sit-down meal environment, provided options with the lowest energy, carbohydrates, sugar, total and saturated fat on average, and the highest amount of fiber and high-fiber food options. Vending machine items contained the lowest amount of sodium on average, whereas food court menus offered the highest and lowest proportion of low-fiber and low-sodium foods, respectively. Analysis within individual dining categories showed that the average nutrient composition of dining hall options varied across mealtimes, whereas the nutrient composition of dining hall options did not vary across days of the week. Within the food court, we observed differences in the average content of energy, total and saturated fat, protein, sugar, fiber, and sodium menu items, as well as availability of high vs. low sodium and saturated fat menu items, across the five themed meals stations (American Grill, Deli, Italian, Salad Bar, and Sushi, Deli). Finally, while the items being offered in vending machines varied, we did not observe statistical differences in average nutrient content of food items in vending machines individually or across academic buildings or dormitories for first-year, second-year, or upperclassmen students. Our pilot study findings suggest that the nutritional quality of food offerings significantly varies across university campus venues and locations, and that the healthfulness of convenience foods is location-specific.