Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
J Prev (2022). 2022 Aug;43(4):513-527. doi: 10.1007/s10935-022-00679-y. Epub 2022 Apr 27.
The local retail food environment around schools can have an important role in encouraging children to low-quality food choices; and may act as a potential risk factor in their diet. Thus, evaluating the food environment is essential for adopting policies and programs that support healthy nutrition in children. This study aimed to investigate the frequency and nutritional characteristics of packaged processed/ultra-processed food and beverage products with child-oriented marketing attributes in food stores around primary schools in Tehran, Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 239 food stores located within a 500-meter buffer around 64 primary schools in Tehran province. The presence of marketing strategies directed at children and nutrition information from traffic light labels of packaged foods available in these stores were extracted. Data were analyzed overall and separately for the subset of foods placed on front shelves at the entrance of stores. Among 445 discrete food products marketed to children via their packaging, 198 (44.49%) were placed on shelves in front of the stores entrance. Potato chips and bulky cereals group had the highest energy density (507.15 ± 44.05 Kcal/100gr). Due to the color code of traffic light labels, 100% of fruit juices had high levels of sugar. Of potato chips and bulky cereals, 89.38% were assigned a red color traffic light for total fat levels. Moreover, 62.50% of processed fruit and vegetables contained high levels of salt. The level of trans-fatty acids were not high in any of the food products. The high amount of sugar, salt, and fat in a remarkable proportion of food products marketed to children can be considered a risk factor for children's health. Initiation and implementation of appropriate policies to control the food environment around schools in Iran is recommended.
学校周边的本地零售食品环境可能对鼓励儿童选择低质量食品起到重要作用，并且可能成为其饮食的潜在风险因素。因此，评估食品环境对于采取支持儿童健康营养的政策和计划至关重要。本研究旨在调查伊朗德黑兰市小学周边食品店中针对儿童的包装加工/超加工食品和饮料产品的出现频率和营养特征，这些食品和饮料产品具有儿童导向的营销属性。本横断面研究在德黑兰省的 64 所小学周围 500 米缓冲区范围内对 239 家食品店进行了调查。提取了这些商店中针对儿童的营销策略和包装食品的红绿灯标签营养信息。对所有数据以及商店入口处货架上的食品子集数据进行了分析。在通过包装向儿童推销的 445 种离散食品中，有 198 种（44.49%）放在商店入口处的货架上。薯片和膨化谷物组的能量密度最高（507.15 ± 44.05 Kcal/100gr）。由于红绿灯标签的颜色代码，100%的果汁饮料含糖量高。在薯片和膨化谷物中，89.38%的产品因总脂肪含量而被分配红色的红绿灯标签。此外，62.50%的加工水果和蔬菜含有高盐量。任何食品中都没有高水平的反式脂肪酸。在向儿童推销的食品中，相当一部分食品的糖、盐和脂肪含量很高，这可能被视为儿童健康的风险因素。建议在伊朗启动和实施适当的政策来控制学校周边的食品环境。
