What Is There to Buy? An Analysis of the Food Environment in Public and Private Schools in the Federal District

Giovanna Soutinho Araújo (), Vivian S. S. Gonçalves, Ariene Silva do Carmo, Maurício T. L. de Vasconcellos and Natacha Toral
Additional contact information
Giovanna Soutinho Araújo: Postgraduate Program in Human Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, Center for Epidemiological Studies in Health and Nutrition—NESNUT, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil
Vivian S. S. Gonçalves: Graduate Program in Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil
Ariene Silva do Carmo: Postgraduate Program in Human Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, Center for Epidemiological Studies in Health and Nutrition—NESNUT, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil
Maurício T. L. de Vasconcellos: Sociedade para o Desenvolvimento da Pesquisa Científica—SCIENCE, Rio de Janeiro 20231-050, RJ, Brazil
Natacha Toral: Postgraduate Program in Human Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, Center for Epidemiological Studies in Health and Nutrition—NESNUT, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: This descriptive ecological study evaluated the food environment of 18 public and private schools in the Federal District (DF), Brazil, by analyzing food availability within schools and in their surroundings (250 m, 400 m, and 800 m buffers). Food retail outlets (FROs) were georeferenced and classified according to the NOVA food classification. School principals were interviewed to assess the in-school food environment. Analyses considered the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI; low or medium/high) and school type. Among 911 FROs identified, 40.2% predominantly sold ultra-processed products. Most schools (83.3% within a 250 m radius) had at least one nearby FRO. Private schools—mostly in low-SVI areas—had higher densities of surrounding FROs at all buffer distances, with significance for total density at 400 m ( p = 0.03) and for unhealthy outlets at 800 m ( p < 0.01). Low-SVI areas had higher densities of both healthy ( p = 0.01) and unhealthy ( p < 0.01) outlets, with differences across multiple buffers. In canteens, sugar-sweetened beverages were the most common ultra-processed items (75%). The median ratio of ultra-processed to minimally processed food subgroups was 2.7 (0.5–6.0), and all private schools with a canteen sold at least one item prohibited by current regulations. Overall, the DF school food environment was characterized by a predominance of unhealthy foods, with disparities by school type and social vulnerability.

Keywords: food environment; school food environment; food retail; healthy eating; ultra-processed foods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/9/1331/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/9/1331/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:9:p:1331-:d:1733206

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().