Food environments play a key role in dietary behavior and vary due to different contexts, regulations, and policies.
This study aimed to characterize the perceived availability of healthy and ...unhealthy foods in 3 different settings in 5 countries.
We analyzed data from the 2018 International Food Policy Study, a cross-sectional survey of adults (18–100 y, n = 22,824) from Australia, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom (UK), and the USA. Perceived availability of unhealthy (junk food and sugary drinks) and healthy foods (fruit or vegetables, healthy snacks, and water) in the community, workplace, and university settings were measured (i.e. not available, available for purchase, or available for free). Differences in perceived availability across countries were tested using adjusted multinomial logistic regression models.
Across countries, unhealthy foods were perceived as highly available in all settings; in university and work settings unhealthy foods were perceived as more available than healthy foods. Australia and Canada had the highest perceived availability of unhealthy foods (range 87.5–90.6% between categories), and the UK had the highest perceived availability of fruits and vegetables for purchase (89.3%) in the community. In university and work settings, Mexico had the highest perceived availability for purchase of unhealthy foods (range 69.9–84.9%). The USA and the UK had the highest perceived availability of fruits and vegetables for purchase (65.3–66.3%) or for free (21.2–22.8%) in the university. In the workplace, the UK had high perceived availability of fruits and vegetables for purchase (40.2%) or for free (18.5%), and the USA had the highest perceived availability of junk food for free (17.3%).
Across countries, unhealthy foods were perceived as highly available in all settings. Variability between countries may reflect differences in policies and regulations. Results underscore the need for the continuation and improvement of policy efforts to generate healthier food environments.
Food environments may be contributing to the rapid increase in obesity occurring in most Latin American (LA) countries. The present study reviews literature from LA that (i) describes the food ...environment and policies targeting the food environment (FEP); and (ii) analytic studies that investigate associations between the FEP and dietary behaviours, overweight/obesity and obesity related chronic diseases. We focus on six dimensions of the FEP: food retail, provision, labelling, marketing, price and composition.
Systematic literature review. Three databases (Web of Science, SciELO, LILACS) were searched, from 1 January 1999 up to July 2017. Two authors independently selected the studies. A narrative synthesis was used to summarize, integrate and interpret findings.
Studies conducted in LA countries.
The search yielded 2695 articles of which eighty-four met inclusion criteria.
Most studies were descriptive and came from Brazil (61 %), followed by Mexico (18 %) and Guatemala (6 %). Studies were focused primarily on retail/provision (n 27), marketing (n 16) and labelling (n 15). Consistent associations between availability of fruit and vegetable markets and higher consumption of fruits and vegetables were found in cross-sectional studies. Health claims in food packaging were prevalent and mostly misleading. There was widespread use of marketing strategies for unhealthy foods aimed at children. Food prices were lower for processed relative to fresh foods. Some studies documented high sodium in industrially processed foods.
Gaps in knowledge remain regarding policy evaluations, longitudinal food retail studies, impacts of food price on diet and effects of digital marketing on diet/health.
Environmental factors such as temperature, light intensity, and nutrient availability, are central in microalgae metabolism, affecting their growth and composition. This study evaluated the effects ...of nitrogen concentration (37.1–78.8 mg L−1 N-NO3), temperature (20–36 °C) and light intensity (140–364 μmol m−2 s−1) on biomass productivity and biochemical composition of Pseudoneochloris marina. The highest biomass productivity (0.26 g L−1 d−1) was achieved with 74.1 mg L−1 N-NO3 at 28 °C and 252–364 μmol m−2 s−1. Protein content decreased with the increment of factors levels and the highest content was 236 ± 18 mg g−1 at 20 °C and 140 μmol m−2 s−1. The carotenoids and lipids were affected negatively by light intensity. The highest xanthophylls and carotenes contents were, respectively, 2.55 ± 0.39 mg g−1 and 1.25 ± 0.01 mg g−1 at 20 °C/28 °C and 140 μmol m−2 s−1. The major carotenoids were all-trans-lutein (36.0 ± 2.9%) and all-trans-β-carotene (13.2 ± 1.2% of total carotenoids). The saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids represented 46.1 ± 1.5%, 10.6 ± 1.7% and 43.3 ± 1.0% of total fatty acids. The main fatty acids were C16:0, C18:2n-6, C18:3n-3 and C18:1. The lowest ω6:ω3 ratio was 1.6 ± 0.1, at the lowest temperature.
•Pseudoneochloris marina was identified by phylogenetic analysis.•Biomass productivity increased with temperature and light intensity.•Carotenoid and lipid production were inhibited by light intensity.•Lutein was the main carotenoid identified in P. marina biomass.•α-linolenic and linoleic acids were the major PUFAs identified in P. marina biomass.
The present study investigates whether the reversal of the social gradient in obesity, defined as a cross-over to higher obesity prevalence among groups with lower education level, has occurred among ...men and women in urban and rural areas of Mexico.
Cross-sectional series of nationally representative surveys (1988, 1999, 2006, 2012 and 2016). The association between education and obesity was investigated over the period 1988-2016. Effect modification of the education-obesity association by household wealth was tested.
Mexico.
Women (n 54 816) and men (n 20 589) aged 20-49 years.
In both urban and rural areas, the association between education and obesity in women varied by level of household wealth in the earlier surveys (1988, 1999 and 2006; interaction P<0·001). In urban areas in 1988, one level lower education was associated (prevalence ratio; 95 % CI) with 45 % higher obesity prevalence among the richest women (1·45; 1·24, 1·69), whereas among the poorest the same education difference was protective (0·84; 0·72, 0·99). In the latest surveys (2012, 2016), higher education was protective across all wealth groups. Among men, education level was not associated with obesity in urban areas; there was a direct association in rural areas. Wealth did not modify the association between education and obesity.
The reversal of the educational gradient in obesity among women occurred once a threshold level of household wealth was reached. Among men, there was no evidence of a reversal of the gradient. Policies must not lose sight of the populations most vulnerable to the obesogenic environment.
The multi-resistant yeast Candida auris has become a global public health threat because of its ease to persist and spread in clinical environments, especially in intensive care units. One of the ...most severe manifestations of invasive candidiasis is candidaemia, whose epidemiology has evolved to more resistant non-albicansCandida species, such as C. auris. It is crucial to establish infection control policies in order to control an outbreak due to nosocomial pathogens, including the implementation of screening colonisation studies. We describe here our experience in managing a C. auris outbreak lasting more than two and a half years which, despite our efforts in establishing control measures and surveillance, is still ongoing. A total of 287 colonised patients and 47 blood stream infections (candidaemia) have been detected to date. The epidemiology of those patients with candidaemia and the susceptibility of C. auris isolates are also reported. Thirty-five patients with candidaemia (74.5%) were also previously colonised. Forty-three patients (91.5%) were hospitalised (61.7%) or had been hospitalised (29.8%) in the ICU before developing candidaemia. Antifungal therapy for candidaemia consisted of echinocandins in monotherapy or in combination with amphotericin B or isavuconazole. The most common underlying disease was abdominal surgery (29.8%). The thirty-day mortality rate was 23.4% and two cases of endophtalmitis due to C. auris were found. All isolates were resistant to fluconazole and susceptible to echinocandins and amphotericin B. One isolate became resistant to echinocandins two months after the first isolate. Although there are no established clinical breakpoints, minimum inhibitory concentrations for isavuconazole were low (≤ 1 μg/mL).
Obesity is rapidly increasing in Mexican children and adolescents, while food environments are rapidly changing. We evaluated the association between changes in retail food stores and change in body ...mass index (BMI) in Mexican children and adolescents.
Data on 7507 participants aged 5-19 years old came from the Mexican Family Life Survey 2002-2012. Density of food stores at the municipal-level (number of food stores/area in km
) came from the Economic Censuses of 1999, 2004 and 2009. We categorized food stores as small food retail (small neighborhood stores, tiendas de abarrotes in Mexico), specialty foods, fruit/vegetables, convenience foods, and supermarkets. Associations between change in food stores and change in BMI were estimated using five longitudinal linear fixed-effects regression models (one per type of food store) adjusted for age, parental education, municipal-level socioeconomic deprivation and population density. Density of each food store type was operationalized as quartiles. Analyses were stratified by urbanization.
There was an inverse dose-response association between increases in fruit/vegetable store density and BMI (β = -0.455 kg/m
, β = -0.733 kg/m
, and β = -0.838 kg/m
in the second, third, and fourth quartile). In non-urban areas, children living in municipalities with the highest density of small food retail stores experienced a reduction in BMI (β = -0.840 kg/m
). In urban areas, there was an inverse association between specialty food stores with BMI (β = -0.789 kg/m
in third quartile, and β = -1.204 kg/m
in fourth quartile). We observed dynamic associations with age; results suggested stronger associations in adolescents.
The availability of fruit/vegetable stores may influence a reduction in children and adolescents BMI. These results indicate that policy approaches could be tailored by type of food store - with some consideration for level of urbanization and children's age.
Abstract Background Obesity is a global health problem, and its connection with social and environmental factors is well-established. Social factors, such as urban segregation, may impact obesity ...through various mechanisms, including food and physical activity environments, as well as social norms and networks. This multilevel study aims to examine the effect of socio-economic residential segregation of Latin American cities on the obesity of individuals within those cities. Methods We analyzed data from national surveys for a total of 59,340 individuals of 18–70 years of age, conducted in 156 cities across Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico between 2007 and 2013. We adjusted two-level linear mixed models for body mass index (BMI) stratified by sex and country, controlling for age, educational level and poverty. Separate models were built for dissimilarity and isolation segregation indices. Results The relationships between segregation indices and BMI were mostly not statistically significant, and in some cases, they were opposite to what was expected. The only significant relationships were observed in Colombian men, using the dissimilarity index (-7.5 95% CI: -14.4, -0.5) and in Colombian women, using the isolation index (-7.9 95% CI: -14.1, -1.7). Conclusions While individual-level factors cannot fully explain differences among people in the same city, segregation indices may help. However, we found that in some cases, the relationship between BMI and segregation indices is opposite to what is expected based on prior literature. This should be considered in examining the phenomenon. Further research on obesogenic environments in segregated neighborhoods could provide valuable evidence.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
To examine food and beverage purchasing patterns across formal and informal outlets among Mexican households' and explore differences by urbanicity and income.
Cross-sectional study of a nationally ...representative sample of households. We calculated the proportion of total food and beverage expenditure in each household by food outlet type overall and by urbanicity and income. We defined informal outlets as those which are not registered or regulated by tax and fiscal laws. Since some of the outlets within community food environments do not fall in clear categories, we defined a continuum from formal to informal outlets, adding mixed outlets as a category.
Mexico.
Mexican households (
74 203) from the 2018 National Income and Expenditure Survey.
Of the total food and beverage purchases, outlets within the formal food sector (i.e. supermarkets and convenience stores) accounted for 15 % of the purchases, 13 % of purchases occurred in outlets within the informal food sector (i.e. street markets, street vendors and acquaintances) and 70 % in fiscally mixed outlets (i.e. small neighbourhood stores, specialty stores and public markets). Across levels of urbanicity and income, most food and beverage purchases occurred in mixed outlets. Also, purchases in informal and mixed outlets decreased as levels of urbanicity and income increased. In contrast to informal outlets, purchases in formal outlets were most likely from richer households and living in larger sized cities.
Understanding where Mexican households shop for food is relevant to create tailored interventions according to food outlet type, accounting for regulatory and governance structures.
Latin American countries are often limited in the availability of food outlet data. There is a need to use online search engines that allow the identification of food outlets and assess their ...agreement with field observations. We aimed to assess the agreement in the density of food outlets provided by a web collaborative data (Google) against the density obtained from an administrative registry. We also determined whether the agreement differed by type of food outlet and by area-level socioeconomic deprivation.
In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed 1,693 census tracts from the municipalities of Hermosillo, Leon, Oaxaca de Juarez, and Tlalpan. The Google service was used to develop a tool for the automatic acquisition of food outlet data. To assess agreement, we compared food outlet densities obtained with Google against those registered in the National Statistical Directory of Economic Units (DENUE). Continuous densities were assessed using Bland-Altman plots and concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), while agreement across tertiles of density was estimated using weighted kappa.
The CCC indicated a strong correlation between Google and DENUE in the overall sample (0.75); by food outlet, most of the correlations were from negligible (0.08) to moderate (0.58). The CCC showed a weaker correlation as deprivation increased. Weighted kappa indicated substantial agreement between Google and DENUE across all census tracts (0.64). By type of food outlet, the weighted kappa showed substantial agreement for restaurants (0.69) and specialty food stores (0.68); the agreement was moderate for convenience stores/small food retail stores (0.49) and fair for candy/ice cream stores (0.30). Weighted kappa indicated substantial agreement in low-deprivation areas (0.63); in very high-deprivation areas, the agreement was moderate (0.42).
Google could be useful in assessing fixed food outlet densities as a categorical indicator, especially for some establishments, like specialty food stores and restaurants. The data could also be informative of the availability of fixed food outlets, particularly in less deprived areas.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The association of the built environment and the structural availability of services/amenities with adolescent birth rates (ABR) has been overlooked in Latin America. We investigated the association ...of the availability, and changes in the availability, of services/amenities with ABR in 92 Mexican cities.
We estimated ABR using data on live birth registration linked to municipality of residence at the time of birth from 2008-2017. The number of services/amenities were obtained from the National Statistical Directory of Economic Units in 2010, 2015, and 2020 and grouped as follows: education, health care, pharmacies, recreation, and on- and off-premises alcohol outlets. Data were linearly interpolated to obtain yearly estimates. We estimated densities per square km by municipality. We fitted negative binomial hybrid models, including a random intercept for municipality and city, and adjusted for other social environment variables.
After adjustment a 1-unit increase in the density of recreation facilities, pharmacies, and off-premises alcohol outlets within municipalities was associated with a 5%, 4% and 12% decrease in ABR, respectively. Municipalities with higher density of education, recreational and health care facilities had a lower ABR; in contrast, municipalities with a higher density of on-premises alcohol experienced a higher ABR.
Our findings highlight the importance of economic drivers and the need to invest in infrastructure, such as pharmacies, medical facilities, schools, and recreation areas and limit the availability of alcohol outlets to increase the impact of current adolescent pregnancy prevention programs.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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