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Background and motivation: The high influx of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds attending universities and their struggle with acquiring nutritious food have been cited as barriers to students' higher learning. Numerous studies show that students are food insecure compared to the overall population. Many student initiatives to curb hunger among students in South African Higher Education Institutions are under pressure owing to the increasing need for food assistance. This study aimed to explore how students experience the concept of 'feeding themselves’ within their current food environments on and off-campus and whether these experiences are associated with food insecurity. These insights may help address students' well-being, which is vital for academic success. Method: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted. A self-administered electronic survey was made available via Evasys in early May 2020 to all 42 282 registered students at the University of the Free State (UFS). The framework developed by Turner et al. (2018) was used to create questions related to the personal domain of the food environment that students were exposed to while studying at the UFS, which entails four separate constructs, namely accessibility, affordability, convenience and desirability of food. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 10-item tool included in the questionnaire to assess students' prevalence and severity of food insecurity at the UFS during the reference period as described above. Descriptive statistics were expressed as frequencies and percentages for categorical data, and medians and interquartile ranges for numerical data. Associations were investigated by crosstabulation and chi-square, Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon rank tests as applicable. Results: A total of 1 387 participants provided consent and participated in the study. Most students (80.9%) were single, and approximately half were first-generation students (54.1%). According to ins

Pregnancy is a period of rapid tissue development. These metabolic processes require additional nutrients to ultimately support the normal growth and development of the foetus. A specific nutrient that is the focus of recent investigations, especially related to the functions thereof for optimal foetal development, is choline. Choline is required in higher amounts during pregnancy. Adequate choline intake contributes to a higher diet quality in general and in turn, a high-quality diet can contribute to optimal short- and long-term pregnancy outcomes. The main aim of the study was to determine choline intake and related factors and to compile a risk assessment profile and diet quality index (DQI) for inadequate choline intake in pregnant women in Bloemfontein, South Africa. In order to reach the aim of the study, the following information was collected from 682 pregnant women (median age of 31.8 years; median gestational age of 32.0 weeks) attending the high-risk antenatal clinic at Pelonomi Regional Hospital: socio-demographic and household information; reported health and lifestyle; dietary intake; pregnancy history; anthropometry and household food security. Choline intake was quantified by matching choline intake from foods included in the quantified food frequency questionnaire (QFFQ) to foods in the USDA Database for the Choline Content of Common Foods (Release 2), after which individual choline intake of each participant was calculated. Median daily choline intake was 275.0 mg (interquartile range 184.7 mg – 386.7 mg). Most participants (84.7%) consumed less than the adequate intake level of 450 mg/day for choline. Lower egg and dairy intakes were significantly associated with inadequate choline intake (p<0.0001 and p=0.0002 respectively). Out of the 247 participants who did not consume any eggs, only five (2.0%) consumed an adequate amount of choline. No participant who did not consume any dairy products managed to consume an adequate amount of choline. Regar