FOOD ENVIRONMENT IN SALES OF FOODS TARGETED AT CHILDREN: AN EVALUATION OF THE SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL AND FOOD DIMENSION IN THE BABY FOOD BRAZIL STUDY
Ultra-processed foods, baby food, consumer nutrition environment, food retailer.
Scientific evidence has shown that children have low dietary diversity and are being ever sooner exposed to ultra-processed foods (UPF). It is estimated that the participation of UPF in the diet is determined by several factors, including the food environment, which can promote inappropriate eating practices through strategies to encourage their acquisition, for instance, their marketing and advertising, their high availability in acquisition and consumption places, including its spatial organization and sale deals, which make such products even more attractive. Due to that, the World Health Organization (WHO) established some strategies to avoid the inadequate promotion of baby foods, aiming at the protection of breastfeeding and the reduction of childhood overweight and obesity. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the profile of the food environments, according to the food and socio-environmental dimension, of establishments where processed foods targeted at children under 36 months of age are sold. This is a quantitative, cross-sectional, exploratory and analytical study, in which we assessed 28 environments where foods targeted at children are sold, characterized as markets, supermarkets and bakeries, in nine neighborhoods of different socioeconomic profiles in Natal-RN. The food environment of the establishments was evaluated according to the Consumer Food Environment Healthiness Score (CFEHS), considering the food and environmental dimensions. Values close to 70 were considered adequate. Sociodemographic indicators of the neighborhoods where these establishments are located were also analyzed, such as income, education and basic sanitation. Most establishments (67.9%) were located in high-income neighborhoods, 35.7% (n=10) were supermarkets, 32.1% (n=9) were markets and bakeries, equally, and availability of UPF for children was higher in supermarkets (p=0.030). The CFEHS score had an average score of 14.68, with bakeries having the worst CFEHS score (average 1.89), including lower scores for the food dimension (average 6.56) when compared to supermarkets and markets (p<0.05). Despite being located in different socioeconomic profiles, the establishments that sell baby foods presented unhealthy environments for obtaining food for children younger than 36 months of age, mainly bakeries, due to the high availability of UPF and the low availability of fresh or minimally processed foods, which can be a challenge for the promotion of adequate and healthy food in this life cycle.