In state capitals that regulate the sale of ultra-processed foods in school cafeterias, teens consume fewer such products than students in regions where there are no regulations. This groundbreaking finding was published on Monday (26) in the scientific journal Cadernos de Saúde Pública. The study was conducted by researchers from the Department of Preventive Medicine at the USP (University of São Paulo) School of Medicine, the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health at USP, and the Federal University of Uberlândia.
The research identified 51 regulations governing the sale of food and beverages in school settings that were in effect through December 2018, most of them in state capitals in the South and Southeast of the country—thereby making students in these regions better protected from the consumption of ultra-processed foods.
The scientists reviewed laws, decrees, administrative orders, and resolutions in effect up until the 2019 PeNSE (National School Health Survey). PeNSE provided experts with information on the presence of school cafeterias and the availability of food and beverages sold in public and private schools in Brazilian state capitals, as well as data on the consumption of ultra-processed foods among enrolled students.
Conducted by the IBGE, PeNSE compiles responses from more than 81,000 adolescents in 1,804 public and private schools across Brazil and consists of six questionnaires. The team considered two of them in the study. The first, completed by principals or administrators of schools participating in PeNSE, assesses information such as what was sold in the cafeterias. The second, administered to students aged 13 to 17, asked what foods the adolescents had consumed the previous day—such as juice, soda, ice cream, chips, and cookies.
Just as sales regulations curb consumption, the researchers confirmed a statistical association between the availability of ultra-processed foods in school settings and higher consumption of these foods by students. “One hypothesis is that if adolescents see that in that school environment, where they spend many hours of the day, this type of food is not available, it helps form better eating habits that can impact the consumption of ultra-processed foods even outside of school,” says Laura Luciano Scaciota, a researcher at USP and the article’s first author.
For her, the results also demonstrate the strength and importance of regulations on the sale and distribution of ultra-processed foods, which are linked to a range of chronic noncommunicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. “This type of research is a major incentive for public authorities to develop new regulations,” says Scaciota. “There are good examples that work across the country, such as in Niterói, Rio, and the state of Ceará, but we advocate for a national law that can restrict the sale and advertising of ultra-processed foods in schools,” adds the researcher.
This article was originally published by Agência Bori.