RESUMO
Deserts, swamps and food oases terms have been used to characterize the food environment according to the identified food availability. Food swamps are defined as neighborhoods with a predominance of food establishments selling ultra-processed foods compared to establishments selling healthy options. In contrast, food oases are areas with easy access to healthy and nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and other fresh foods. Food deserts describe densely populated urban areas where residents face difficulty obtaining healthy food. In this context, this work aimed to map deserts, swamps, and food oases around federal schools in Bahia, Brazil, emphasizing the importance of implementing the Brazilian National School Feeding Program (PNAE) in these schools, to guarantee food security and nutrition. An ecological study was carried out in all 35 federal schools in Bahia, Brazil, using an 800 m buffer analysis, with the school as the centroid. The geographic coordinates of schools and food establishments were initially obtained using Google Maps and later confirmed onsite. To evaluate food deserts and swamps, the methodology proposed by the CDC was used and the Modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) was calculated; when the result was equal to zero, the surrounding area was considered a food desert and values between 0.01 and 20 determined food swamps; for values above 20, the neighborhood was classified as mixed. Food oases were considered regions containing at least one supermarket within the analyzed buffer. Descriptive analyses were carried out with frequency measurements, measures of central tendency (mean and median) and dispersion (standard deviation). The food environment of schools was compared considering the number of students impacted, the area where the school was located (urban or rural) and the size of the municipalities. The average number of food establishments found was 22.39 (±13.03), with the highest averages for snack bars (7.33 ± 4.43), grocery stores (5.83 ± 4.09) and restaurants (2.94 ± 2.19). Food deserts and mixed environments were identified in 40% of the sample, while swamps represented 20% and oases 65%. An association was observed between food deserts and social vulnerability, making it necessary to emphasize the importance of adequate implementation of the PNAE in these schools to reduce food and nutritional insecurity, guaranteeing the human right to adequate and healthy food and providing better nutrition and health perspectives within the school environment and impact on students' lives through food and nutrition education actions, which are also part of the context of PNAE activities.
Assuntos
Instituições Acadêmicas , Áreas Alagadas , Humanos , Brasil , Frutas , VerdurasRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests that unhealthy community food environments around schools contribute to unhealthy eating habits and negative health outcomes among the youth. However, little is known about how socioeconomic inequalities in those community food environments are associated with food deserts and food swamps across schools' neighborhoods. METHODS: An ecological study was carried out in all 3,159 public and private schools in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Three measures of socioeconomic inequality were evaluated: per capita income, segregation index and deprivation index. The community school food environment was analyzed by metrics of food swamps and food deserts. RESULTS: Food deserts and food swamps were simultaneously more prevalent in neighborhoods of the lowest income, high deprivation, and high segregation. Spatial socioeconomic disparities at the neighborhoods of schools were associated with food deserts and food swamps in Rio de Janeiro. CONCLUSIONS: Our results point to a spatial socioeconomic inequality of establishments that sell food around schools in a Brazilian metropolis, indicating that the areas of greatest deprivation of food services are also the areas with the worst socioeconomic characteristics.
Assuntos
Desertos Alimentares , Áreas Alagadas , Adolescente , Humanos , Brasil , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Instituições Acadêmicas , Características de ResidênciaRESUMO
The concept of food environment refers to the opportunities; environments; and physical, economic, political, and socio-cultural conditions that frame the interaction of people with the food system and shape decisions about food acquisition and consumption. This study analyzes the relationships between the characteristics of urban environments and the availability of retail food through the evaluation of physical and financial access to food in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico (MAVM) between 2010 and 2020. Using Geographic Information Systems (GISs), both physical access through network distance to economic food retail units and financial access through socioeconomic status at the block scale were evaluated. The network distance and socioeconomic status results were used as criteria for the spatially explicit classification of the MAVM into food deserts, oases, and swamps. Food deserts are the most abundant food environments but only increased in the third and fourth metropolitan contours. Swamps have increased throughout the city, related to the proliferation of convenience stores that have replaced grocery stores. This study contributes evidence at a local and regional scale required for the future urban planning of the MAVM and for public health and sustainability programs focusing on treating food-related diseases.