Is the community food environment in Chile associated with fruit and vegetables consumption?
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1
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil
2
Federal University of Ouro Preto, Brazil
3
Drexel University, United States
4
Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru
5
University of Chile, Chile
Publication date: 2023-04-27
Popul. Med. 2023;5(Supplement):A172
ABSTRACT
Diet quality is influenced by many individual and social characteristics, as well as the community food environment. There is evidence in the literature showing associations between food environment and diet, but there is still scarce information for Chilean population. Objective: To explore the relationship between community food environment and diet quality in three Chilean cities. Methods: Food store were geocodes and diet survey data standardized from SALURBAL study were used. The food environment was evaluated by geospatial algorithm based on Google Earth data and density store indicators by different categories were estimated. The personal-level data included socioeconomic, demographic, health and nutrition variables. Diet quality was assessed by daily consumption of Fruits and Vegetables (FV) (≥ 5 servings/day). Two-level with mixed effects binary logistic regression were performed. Results: 48410 food stores were evaluated, distributed across 2,442 neighborhoods in 51 subcities in three Chilean cities (Santiago, Valparaíso, Concepción). The population sample included 1,292 individuals, of which 84.3% had inadequate consumption of FV. We observed a higher density of ready-to-eat food stores and a low density of FV stores in these cities. Store density increased as population density quartiles and the intra-urban socio-environmental index increased. No association was identified between food environment and FV consumption consumption. Conclusions: The food environment in the evaluated cities is dominated by stores with an unhealthy profile and low availability of FV, but there is no consistent relationship with FV consumption. Other factors may be determinants of FV consumption in this population.