Cadernos de Saúde Pública (Nov 2018)

The food environment of Brazilian public and private schools

  • Ariene Silva do Carmo,
  • Maíra Macário de Assis,
  • Cristiane de Freitas Cunha,
  • Tatiana Resende Prado Rangel de Oliveira,
  • Larissa Loures Mendes

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311x00014918
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 34, no. 12

Abstract

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Abstract: This study’s aim was to characterize the food environment of Brazilian public and private schools. This was a national school-based cross-sectional study with 1,247 schools - among which 81.09% were public and 18.91% were private - in 124 Brazilian municipalities. The data originated from the Questionnaire on Aspects of the School Environment, used in the Study of Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents (ERICA) in 2013 and 2014. Data analysis was conducted in 2017. The chi-square test was used to compare proportions. A greater proportion of public schools offered school meals (98.15%) in comparison to private schools (8.07%) (p 0.05). These findings reveal the predominance of obesogenic environments mainly in private schools, and can contribute to the design of Brazilian public policies to promote a healthy school food environment.

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