Adalberto Aparecido dos Santos Lopes

Objective: The objective of this article was to perform a comparative analysis of the changes in the availability of commercial food establishments around the schools in a Brazilian capital city. Methods: This is a comparative analysis between two cross-sectional panels performed in 2012 and 2019 in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Secondary data from different sources were used. The location data of schools and establishments were georeferenced. For the analysis of the surroundings of schools, a network buffer of 800 m was considered. The establishments were classified based on the foods they primarily sold: fresh, mixed and ultra-processed foods. The chi-square and Wilcoxon tests were applied for the analyses, considering a significance level of 95% (p < 0.05). Results: The number of food establishments around schools increased by 63%. There was a statistically significant growth in mixed (p = 0.008) and ultra-processed (p = 0.024) food- selling establishments. Conclusion: We conclude that the increase in establishments selling ultra-processed foods around schools at the expense of establishments selling fresh food deserves attention. This condition requires public policies that help promote healthier environments, thus contributing to the health of schoolchildren.

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the association between the consumption of healthy and unhealthy food markers among adolescents enrolled in the ninth grade of elementary school in municipal public schools and the food environment around the schools in two municipalities of different sizes, located in Southern Brazil. The data were collected between 2022 and 2023, with 449 adolescent participants. Of these, 347 were students from the municipality of Florianópolis, and 102 were students from the municipality of Governador Celso Ramos, all aged between 13 and 17 years. The establishments located around the schools were evaluated using AUDITNOVA, an instrument that investigates the environmental dimension and food dimension. The consumption of healthy eating markers (beans, vegetables, and fresh fruits) and unhealthy eating markers (ultra-processed foods, soft drinks, sweets, and fried snacks) among students was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire. Statistically significant associations were observed between the food environment around the school and the consumption of unhealthy food markers (OR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.41–0.98 p = 0.041) but only in the large municipality. No significant associations were found in the students’ food consumption in the small municipality. A significant association between the school food environment and adolescents’ consumption of unhealthy foods was observed in Florianópolis. Healthy food consumption was low among students in the small municipality, Governador Celso Ramos.