The undergraduate college years are a critical transition period for young adults in establishing life-long health behaviors. Background/Objective: Within the FRESH Study, we aimed to understand the relationship between perceived physical health, perceived mental health, and specific health metrics (e.g., physical activity, food insecurity, sleep quality) among college students following the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: First-year undergraduate students (n = 271) from an urban university were recruited in three study waves (2021–2022, 2022–2023, and 2023–2024). Participants answered online surveys on demographics, health perceptions, physical activity, dietary patterns, beverage consumption, food insecurity, stress, and sleep quality. Results: Overall, participants rated their physical health better than their mental health (‘good’, ‘very good’, or ‘excellent’; 89.6% vs. 62.2%), even though 30.7% were not of ‘healthy weight’ status, 34.5% did not meet physical activity recommendations, and 42.2% of students consumed some sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Students reporting suboptimal (‘fair’ or ‘poor’) physical and mental health were more likely to report food insecurity (p < 0.001, p = 0.010), poor sleep quality (p = 0.012, p < 0.001), and elevated stress (p = 0.001, p < 0.001). In addition, fast-food consumption (p < 0.001), breakfast consumption (p = 0.031), and food insecurity (p = 0.004) showed changes over three years. Conclusions: These findings call for targeted wellness initiatives addressing nutrition, food insecurity, stress management, sleep improvement, and physical activity among students and in university health programs. The FRESH Study emphasizes the need for continued longitudinal research to track health behaviors and inform future interventions.

Background: College students are experiencing increasing levels of stress, anxiety, and depression, but little research exists on factors weakening the mental health of design students.Aim: This study investigates the prevalence and precursors of mental health challenges among architecture and landscape architecture students.Methods: This study used a convergent mixed-methods research design with three data collection methods: The Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21; n = 399 students), an online wellness survey (n = 269), and semi-structured interviews (n = 37).Results: Findings reveal that 33%, 46%, and 33% of students screened positive for moderate to extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. The leading factors elevating stress included school deadlines and schedule, workload demands or amount of work outside of class, inadequate sleep, and time spent at work. Negative behaviors due to stress were discussed, including neglect of self-care (e.g., poor sleep patterns, eating habits, and physical inactivity), inability to focus, emotional instability, and social withdrawal.Conclusions: This study underscores mental health concerns among design students and identifies potential factors that contribute to unhealthy habits and compromise academic performance, including pedagogical approaches, learning and teaching culture, studio environment, and lifestyle choices.

Background: Food insecurity among college students is a multidimensional challenge shaped by individual, interpersonal, institutional, community, and policy factors. Although many campuses require or provide meal plans, students may experience food insecurity when barriers related to agency (choice and autonomy), utilization (nutrition security), and availability persist. This study explored how undergraduate students at a private, urban U.S. university experience and navigate the multiple dimensions of food insecurity. Methods: We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews via Zoom between December 2024 and January 2025 with n = 22 undergraduate students recruited based on food security status, determined by a Fall 2024 longitudinal survey using the USDA Six-Item Short Form. Transcripts were double-coded by trained research assistants in ATLAS.ti using an inductive codebook. Thematic analyses followed a phronetic, iterative approach, organizing findings within a socio-ecological determinants framework and comparing themes by food security status. Results: We identified nine themes across four domains (individual, interpersonal, institutional and community, and political). At the individual level, constrained personal resources for groceries and cooking, time scarcity leading to skipped meals, and health impacts that detracted from academics emerged as key themes. Interpersonally, reliable family financial support was protective and informal support from peers/coaches filled gaps sporadically for some. At the institutional and community level, dining hall hours misaligned with student schedules, perceived limited variety and nutrition quality reduced food agency and utilization, and transportation impeded use of the sole grocery partner accepting university meal plan benefits. Notably, meal plans including unlimited meal swipes provided stable access but did not guarantee food security when food agency and utilization barriers persisted. Many students relied on campus events for free food; formal assistance (e.g., food pantry) was largely underused. At the policy level, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) awareness and enrollment was limited among our sample. Conclusions: Meal plan access alone is insufficient to ensure food security. Campus strategies should extend beyond access to prioritize flexibility, variety, and alignment with students’ schedules and preferences, while strengthening communication and eligibility support for external benefits. Future work should design and evaluate interventions that integrate all dimensions of food security and address institutional policies affecting students’ basic needs.