Gaps and priorities in assessment of food environments for children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries

Bianca Carducci; Christina Oh; Daniel E Roth; Lynnette M Neufeld; Edward A Frongillo; Mary R L'Abbe; Jessica Fanzo; Anna Herforth; Daniel W Sellen; Zulfiqar A Bhutta

doi:10.1038/s43016-021-00299-5

Gaps and priorities in assessment of food environments for children and adolescents in low- and middle-income countries

Nat Food. 2021 Jun;2(6):396-403. doi: 10.1038/s43016-021-00299-5. Epub 2021 Jun 18.

Authors

Bianca Carducci^{1

2}, Christina Oh¹, Daniel E Roth^{1

2

3

4

5}, Lynnette M Neufeld⁶, Edward A Frongillo⁷, Mary R L'Abbe^{2

5}, Jessica Fanzo^{8

9

10}, Anna Herforth¹¹, Daniel W Sellen^{1

2

5

12}, Zulfiqar A Bhutta^{13

14

15

16

17

18

19}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Global Child Health, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research, Learning Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Department of Nutritional Sciences, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Dalla Lana School of Public, Health University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Joannah and Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Genève, Switzerland.
⁷ Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
⁸ Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁹ Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC, USA.
¹⁰ Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹¹ Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
¹² Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ Centre for Global Child Health, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research, Learning Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. zulfiqar.bhutta@sickkids.ca.
¹⁴ Department of Nutritional Sciences, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. zulfiqar.bhutta@sickkids.ca.
¹⁵ Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. zulfiqar.bhutta@sickkids.ca.
¹⁶ Dalla Lana School of Public, Health University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. zulfiqar.bhutta@sickkids.ca.
¹⁷ Joannah and Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. zulfiqar.bhutta@sickkids.ca.
¹⁸ Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. zulfiqar.bhutta@sickkids.ca.
¹⁹ Institute for Global Health and Development, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. zulfiqar.bhutta@sickkids.ca.

PMID: 37118231
DOI: 10.1038/s43016-021-00299-5

Abstract

School-aged children and adolescents have complex interactions with their food environments-the point of engagement of individuals with the food system-and are influenced by a diversity of individual, household and organizational factors. Although a wide range of methods have been proposed to define, monitor and evaluate food environments, few are tailored to school-aged children and adolescents. Here, we interrogate published literature on food metrics and methodologies for the characterization of food environments for school-aged children and adolescents living in low- and middle-income counties. We identify key priority actions and potential indicators for better monitoring and evaluation to galvanize policymaking to improve the healthiness of these interactions, which are so crucial to future adult well-being.

Publication types

Review