Retail Food Environment around Schools in Barcelona by Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status: Implications for Local Food Policy

Catalina Londoño-Cañola (), Gemma Serral, Julia Díez, Alba Martínez-García, Manuel Franco, Lucía Artazcoz and Carlos Ariza
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Catalina Londoño-Cañola: Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Public Health Agency, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
Gemma Serral: Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Public Health Agency, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
Julia Díez: Public Health and Epidemiology Research Group, School of Medicine, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, 28801 Madrid, Spain
Alba Martínez-García: Department of Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine and Public Health and History of Science, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
Manuel Franco: Public Health and Epidemiology Research Group, School of Medicine, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, 28801 Madrid, Spain
Lucía Artazcoz: Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Public Health Agency, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
Carlos Ariza: Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, Public Health Agency, 08023 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Childhood obesity is a relevant public health problem. The school food environment has been identified as an important factor for promoting healthy eating behaviors. This study assessed the availability of and proximity to unhealthy food stores around schools ( n = 22) in the city of Barcelona and its association with neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES). We conducted this cross-sectional study between 2019 and 2020. First, we identified all food retailers ( n = 153) within a 400-m buffer around each school and identified those selling unhealthy food products. Then, we used Poison regression models to measure the association between NSES and the healthy food availability index (HFAI), adjusting for population density and distance. A total of 95% of the food establishments studied were classified as unhealthy ( n = 146). In all, 90% of schools that had, at least, two unhealthy retailers in their proximity. There were significant differences in the mean distance to unhealthy establishments according to neighborhood SES and population density ( p < 0.05). We found a positive association between schools located in higher SES neighborhoods and a higher availability and affordability of healthy food products (IIR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.45–1.91 p = 0.000). We found strong social inequalities in the supply of healthy foods in Barcelona. Local food policy interventions addressing retail food environment around schools should consider socioeconomic inequalities.

Keywords: food environment; food access; nutrition environment measures surveys; health inequalities; socioeconomic status; geographic information system; schools; children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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