La implementación de los Lineamientos para regular el expendio de alimentos y bebidas en dos escuelas telesecundarias de Veracruz. Análisis desde la perspectiva de los sujetos

Abstract

En este artículo se aborda la implementación de los Lineamientos Generales para el Expendio o Distribución de Alimentos y Bebidas en los Establecimientos de Consumo Escolar de los Planteles Educativos de Educación Básica de México. El análisis se basa en un estudio exploratorio de orientación cualitativa, apoyado en conceptos del análisis de políticas y del análisis político de discurso. El referente empírico se compone de testimonios de directivos, estudiantes, docentes y responsables de las tiendas de dos telesecundarias, vertidos a través de entrevistas. El artículo muestra: una endeble estrategia oficial para la implementación de los lineamientos, una respuesta afirmativa de los sujetos al sentido general de la propuesta, diversos ámbitos de resistencia, el peso de las prácticas de consumo arraigadas y la problemática interacción entre escuela y entorno. Todo esto resultó en que los lineamientos tuvieron un bajo impacto durante los primeros meses de su implementación.AbstractThis paper addresses the implementation of the Lineamientos Generales para el Expendio o Distribución de Alimentos y Bebidas en los Establecimientos de Consumo Escolar de los Planteles Educativos de Educación Básica, a policy initiative oriented to regulate the preparation and selling of food in Mexican schools. The discussion is based on a qualitative exploratory study and uses conceptual notions from policy analysis and discursive policy analysis approaches. The empirical referent includes testimonies of principals, students, teachers and the managers of food establishments of two secondary schools. The results show, among other things, that the school agents agree with the general sense of the policy initiative, that there are struggles to change the patterns of food purchase and eating among the school community and an absence of articulation between school and parents. All this indicates a low effectiveness of the policy initiative.Recibido: 21 de junio de 2013Aceptado: 04 de diciembre de 2013

Obesity in Latin America, a scoping review of public health prevention strategies and an overview of their impact on obesity prevention

“…Also, studies in Mexico found that the schools lacked the space, food safety measures or the structure to implement these policies (38) . They also lacked a strong strategy to implement this throughout and faced difficulty in changing culturally strong practices, among others (39) . The evidence on the effectiveness of this strategy is considered weak as there are very limited studies.…”

Regulatory initiatives to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in Latin America

“…As the analysis of the NUTRE framework shows, regulations (mandatory and otherwise) often lack clear implementation, monitoring and evaluation strategies, key factors in the success of legal reforms [ 61 , 62 , 63 ]. Evidence also accounts for a lack of training and information of people meant to apply the new rules and, consequently, resistance to change [ 29 ]. Much more research is needed to guide government and public health advocates seeking to create effective SSB policies.…”

“…Available studies focus mainly on Mexico, where the National Agreement for Healthy Nutrition (ANSA, for its Spanish acronym) and its subsequent “General Guidelines to regulate the distribution of food and drinks at schools” [ 25 ] have reportedly encountered strong implementation barriers [ 4 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. These limitations are mainly related to structural weaknesses [ 28 , 29 ], especially the lack of a strong official implementation strategy, that takes into account education regarding the policies, operational training, cultural barriers; and strategies to overcome the economic pressures of school beverage vendors [ 29 ]. The two studies assessing this issue in Mexico at the local level concluded that guidelines are generally not followed [ 29 , 30 ].…”

“…These limitations are mainly related to structural weaknesses [ 28 , 29 ], especially the lack of a strong official implementation strategy, that takes into account education regarding the policies, operational training, cultural barriers; and strategies to overcome the economic pressures of school beverage vendors [ 29 ]. The two studies assessing this issue in Mexico at the local level concluded that guidelines are generally not followed [ 29 , 30 ]. Strong industry opposition [ 30 ] was noted as a crucial obstacle to the implementation of these regulations [ 4 ] and proved especially strong in the process of enacting Mexico’s General Guidelines on the distribution of food and drinks at schools [ 11 ]; which were weakened due to industry pressure [ 4 , 11 ].…”

“…Taxes on unhealthy food or drink have been promoted by the World Health Organization as potentially effective measures to reduce consumption [ 32 ]. Taxes can be levied in the forms of excise, sales or value-added (VAT) taxes [ 33 ], although experts usually advocate for excise taxes [ 3 ], as they increase shelf price and are easier to collect (reducing transaction costs and the likelihood of tax evasion) [ 29 ]. Tax regulations also vary in terms of the kind of product taxed and the applicable rate ( Table 4 ).…”