Oferta y publicidad de alimentos y bebidas en instituciones educativas y entornos escolares de Lima Metropolitana. Un estudio exploratorio

Abstract

El objetivo del estudio fue describir la oferta y la publicidad de alimentos y bebidas en instituciones educativas y entornos escolares de 15 colegios públicos y privados de Lima en 2019. Se realizaron observaciones inopinadas y se registraron los alimentos ofrecidos, la presencia de advertencias publicitarias, octógonos y la publicidad en quioscos y cafeterías. A la hora de salida se observó la venta ambulatoria de alimentos. Todas las escuelas ofrecían productos ultraprocesados, el 73,3% vendía alimentos con octógonos y el 60% tenía publicidad de alimentos procesados y ultraprocesados. En el 86,7% de los colegios había vendedores ambulantes de alimentos, varios de los alimentos eran productos ultraprocesados. Los resultados sugieren un ambiente alimentario no saludable dentro y alrededor de las escuelas, y el incumplimiento de la regulación actual. Resulta necesario mejorar la difusión y supervisión de la política alimentaria, y construir con las escuelas estrategias para promover una alimentación saludable.

Food Environment around Schools: A Systematic Scope Review

“…Studies reported a greater proximity of food outlets (especially grocery stores and fast-food restaurants) from high schools than preschools or elementary schools. The authors report that the flexibility of schedules, greater independence, and autonomy of high school students can decoy for the food market, in addition to the privileged location of schools on high-traffic roads, coinciding with the location of restaurants and supermarkets [ 2 , 13 , 26 , 32 , 35 , 39 , 50 , 64 , 72 ].…”

“…A minority of authors chose to map the availability of food sold in the surroundings through subjective measures, including questionnaires applied to the school community ( n = 4) and direct observation by the authors themselves ( n = 2). Three studies identified food outlets through a questionnaire in which school administrators identified the presence of food outlets’ walkability [ 46 ] or a “seven to ten-minute walk from the school” [ 13 , 55 ]. Henriques et al [ 66 ] used an audit tool to record observations of the different types of food outlets found within 500 m of the school.…”

“…The food environment includes physical, economic, political, and sociocultural aspects, opportunities, and conditions that influence people’s food and beverage choices and nutritional status [ 8 , 9 ]. Characteristics of the school food environment, such as targeted marketing, availability, and access to unhealthy foods, combined with a sedentary lifestyle, contribute to the obesogenic school environment, which influences the nutritional status of children and adolescents [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. The obesogenic environment concerns the environmental conditions that influence individuals and populations to choose lifestyles that promote obesity, involving the availability of unhealthy foods around individuals and lack of physical activity [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 14 ].…”

Marketing techniques, health, and nutritional claims on processed foods and beverages before and after the implementation of mandatory front-of-package warning labels in Peru

“…Finally, even though the study found significant changes in some food categories and marketing strategies after the implementation of FOPL policy, the results show that most “high-in” products already used either marketing techniques or claims, and that it is increasing. So, it is important to inform and raise public awareness about how to evaluate the nutritional quality of a product, not only based on the content of nutrients of concern, which may be insufficient for some populations to identify healthy products ( 28 ), but also based on different traits such as ingredients, processing, and labeling. In Peru, the current public policies like the Law of Promotion of Healthy Eating ( 22 ), the Healthy Eating Guidelines ( 38 ) and the National Multisectoral Health Policy to 2030 ( 39 ) allow the implementation of other actions such as implementing communication-based or educational interventions for the clear interpretation of product healthfulness and informed decision-making regarding healthy food purchases.…”

“…For this study, we selected the eight categories of foods and beverages most consumed by children and adolescents ( 5 , 27 , 28 ; Supplementary Table 2 ):…”