Retail food environment in a Brazilian metropolis over the course of a decade : evidence of restricted availability of healthy foods.
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Date
2022
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Abstract
Objective: To evaluate changes in the retail food environment profile in a Brazilian
metropolis over a 10-year period.
Design: An ecological study was conducted in the city of Belo Horizonte,
Minas Gerais, Brazil. The addresses of formal food establishments were geocoded
and classified according to their sold-food profile. Density changes were analysed
according to neighbourhood, population size, income level and geospatial
distribution.
Setting: Totally, 468 neighbourhoods in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas
Gerais, Brazil.
Participants: Totally, 83 752 formal food establishments registered for
operation in any one or more of those years: 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2018.
Results: There was an increase in unhealthy establishments (154 %), followed
by mixed (51 %) and healthy establishments (32 %), during the period evalu-
ated, in addition to an increase in density according to income categories.
There was a higher proportion of unhealthy establishments in relation to
healthy establishments, indicating worsening of the community food environ-
ment over time.
Conclusions: Over the course of 10 years, changes in the neighbourhood’s food
environment were unfavourable for adequate access to healthy foods in lower-
income neighbourhoods. The findings reinforce the need for interventions
aimed at increasing the availability of businesses that offer healthy food in
the city.
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Keywords
Community food environment, Digital food retail, Geographic information systems, Food environment, Ultra-processed foods
Citation
JUSTINIANO, I. C. S. et al. Retail food environment in a Brazilian metropolis over the course of a decade : evidence of restricted availability of healthy foods. Public health nutrition, v. 25, n. 9, p. 2584-2592, 2022. Disponível em: <https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/retail-food-environment-in-a-brazilian-metropolis-over-the-course-of-a-decade-evidence-of-restricted-availability-of-healthy-foods/8DCE61123AEC8F609C919E99445D87B9>. Acesso em: 11 out. 2022.