Impact of initiatives that promote healthier food choices among children and adolescents, within municipal food retail environments

• Grant number: 25/02137-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: May 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition
• Agreement: Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD)
• Principal Investigator: Patricia Constante Jaime
• Grantee: Irene Carolina Sousa Justiniano
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Saúde Pública (FSP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/03288-4 - Healthy food environments and obesity in childhood and adolescence: understanding and overcoming the challenges for implementing the most effective public policies, AP.TEM

Abstract

The overall aim of the project is to support the adoption and implementation of initiatives that promote healthier food choices among children and adolescents in municipal food retail environments. Brazilian food environments such as supermarkets, still present numerous barriers to the promotion of healthy eating, underscoring the need for supportive food environments for children, adolescents and their families (Borges et al. 2022). Recent federal initiatives in Brazil are attempting to address this need. These include the National Strategy for the Prevention and Attention to Childhood Obesity (PROTEJA). PROTEJA initiatives within municipality food retail environments include: (i) capacity-buildings for local retailers on strategies to promote healthier food retail environments; (ii) creating local legislation to establish a minimum height of 120 centimeters for shelves to display unhealthy/ultra-processed foods; (iii) restriction in the offer and marketing of unhealthy, ultra-processed foods within and around schools (Brasil, 2022). PROTEJA was initiated in August 2021, however, limited data is available on its level of implementation, its impact, and on the facilitators and barriers to scaling it up across municipalities. PROTEJA food retail environment initiatives demand the involvement of different stakeholders, including policymakers, local authorities and retailers, to be executed. It is therefore crucial to first understand the current food retail landscape in the municipalities where PROTEJA is being adopted, identify the relevant stakeholders, and ensure that PROTEJA's initiatives are being implemented as intended, before their impact can be known. (AU)