Food delivery apps guarantee access to food during the COVID-19 pandemic when commercial establishments are closed and access to food retail is controlled. This study aimed to describe the ads published in a food delivery app in Brazilian capitals, during 13th and 14th week of the pandemic. Data collection occurred on one day of the week and one day of the weekend and during lunch and dinner time. A random sample of 25% of the ads (n=1,754) published in this period was classified in accordance to the presence of healthy and unhealthy eating markers and to the use of marketing strategies. Almost 50% of the ads contained at least one unhealthy eating marker and 29.3% at least one healthy eating marker. Ads containing healthy eating markers were more frequent on the weekday (34.2% vs. 24.1% at the weekend) and at lunch (47.5% vs. 16.1% at dinner). Ads containing unhealthy eating markers were more common at the weekend (54.7% vs. 47.8% on the weekday) and at dinner (63.3% vs. 34.2% at lunch). The most common marketing strategies in the ads were: price discounts (91.7%), use of photos (94.0%) and free shipping (45.7%). Combos were frequent on weekday (2.1% vs. 26.4% at the weekend) in addition to photo use (95.2% vs. 92.7% at the weekend). Free shipping and combo strategies prevailed at dinner: 48.0% vs. 42.4% at lunch and 33.4% vs. 23.6% at lunch, respectively. In sum, food delivery app proved to be an obesogenic food environment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Context The presence of retail food establishments around schools can be a potentiating or protective factor for overweight in students, depending on access to these places as well as types of foods available therein. The hypothesis for this study was that a greater density and proximity of retail food establishments around schools influence the weight of students. Objective To systematically review the available observational literature on the association between retail food establishments around schools and the occurrence of overweight and obesity in schoolchildren and adolescents. Data Sources Observational studies were searched in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SCOPUS databases published until May 2019. Data Extraction Two independent reviewers extracted relevant data. Data Analysis Data on the 31 included studies were summarized with narrative synthesis according to meta-analyses of observational studies in epidemiology, exploring the type of food establishments around schools and analyzing qualitatively the impact of proximity or density on overweight and obesity rates. Conclusion Of the 31 articles, a direct association between proximity or density of establishments (mainly fast food restaurants, convenience stores, grocery stores) around schools and overweight and obesity in children and adolescents were found in 14 studies. However, authors of 13 papers found no association and inverse association was presented in 4 papers. The studies presented different methods of classification, location, and analysis of retail food establishments, making it difficult to conclude the real influence that the presence of these establishments near schools have on the nutritional status of children and adolescents. Therefore, future studies should consider the use of longitudinal designs and standardized analysis of the food environment around schools to better understand this food environment and its influence on health-related behaviors.

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A infecção por SARS-CoV-2 tem direcionado a atenção de pesquisadores para a criação de estratégias de prevenção e gestão clínica da infecção COVID-19. Alguns grupos populacionais devem ser priorizados como as gestantes e os recém-nascidos. Assim, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática de estudos observacionais e documentos oficiais a fim de explorar e sintetizar evidências e recomendações sobre a atenção e o manejo de gestantes e recém-nascidos suspeitos ou confirmados com a infecção. Utilizou-se a base de dados PubMed, a biblioteca virtual Scielo, as plataformas de sociedades científicas e sites governamentais. Foram incluídas 33 referências organizadas em: atenção à saúde das gestantes com suspeita ou diagnóstico de infecção por SARS-CoV-2: epidemiologia e caracterização, cuidado pré-natal e realização de procedimentos eletivos, recomendações quanto via de nascimento, orientações para a admissão, trabalho de parto/parto e puerpério, agentes farmacológicos e monitoração; e manejo de recém-nascidos filhos de mulheres com diagnóstico de infecção COVID-19: epidemiologia e caracterização de recém-nascidos, risco de infecção por transmissão vertical e no pós parto,  amamentação e manejo dos cuidados com recém-nascidos. As recomendações contidas no artigo são passíveis de mudanças diante das novas descobertas sobre o comportamento e repercussões da doença em gestantes, puérperas e recém-nascidos. Palavras-chave: COVID-19; recém-nascidos; gestantes.

Objective: To analyse food advertised on an online food delivery (OFD) platform during 16 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Design: Longitudinal study. We randomly selected foods advertised on the OFD app’s home page, classifying the food items into water; natural juices and smoothies; vegetables; fruits; traditional meals and pasta; ultra-processed beverages; ice cream and candies, and salty packaged snacks; sandwiches; savoury snacks; and pizza. We also registered the marketing strategies used to promote the food items, such as photos, discounts, ‘combo deals’, and messages on healthiness, value for the money, tastiness, and pleasure. Setting: Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Participants: 1,593 food items. Results: In general, the OFD platform most commonly promoted traditional meals and pasta, ultra-processed beverages, and sandwiches—these food groups were offered 20–25% of the time during the 16 weeks. There were no promotions for water during the whole period, and the least common promotions were those for natural juices and smoothies, vegetables, and fruits (<5%). The most common food promotion strategies were photos (>80%) and discounts (>95%), while approximately 30% of the offers featured combo deals. Messages on tastiness, pleasure, and value for the money varied from 15% to 40%. Conclusion: Although the OFD platform offered traditional meals and pasta, most of the foods and beverages advertised were unhealthy and promoted with persuasive strategies. This finding highlights a growing public health concern: an increase in unhealthy eating patterns during the pandemic.

Evidence of changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in food security and nutrition conditions, as well as in different food environments, has called researchers’ attention to substantial changes taking place in individuals’ dietary habits. The aim of this study is to present and address changes that have already happened in food environments, during the first COVID-19 pandemic year, in a middle-income country. Multiple changes were observed and had direct impact on the population, among them, worsened health and nutrition indicators and advanced dietary inequalities, as well as on its food profile in different life cycles, if one takes into consideration aspects such as food availability, financial access and dietary quality.

Background Food deserts are neighborhoods with little or no access to healthy food, whereas food swamps are neighborhoods where unhealthy food options prevail over healthy ones. The main aims of the current study are to feature and compare the neighborhoods of food deserts and food swamps based on social inequality. Methods Ecological study carried out in Belo Horizonte City, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Information about commercial food establishments derived from two different databases. It was measured by secondary governmental databases, which were virtually conferred in the present study. Census tracts were considered as analysis units and classified as food deserts and food swamps, based on the Brazilian methodology. Take into consideration the density of establishments classified as selling fresh or minimally-processed food, mixed establishments, and establishments selling ultra-processed food. The Brazilian methodology evaluates food deserts by the density of healthy establishments (establishments classified as mostly selling fresh or minimally-processed food and mixed establishments) per 10 thousand inhabitants. And the metric to evaluate food swamps considers the density of unhealthy establishments (establishments mostly selling ultra-processed food) per 10 thousand inhabitants. Information about social inequalities comprised aspects such as income, population count, number of households, number of literate individuals, race, water and energy supply, and garbage collection. The Health Vulnerability Index (HVI) was used as a synthetic social vulnerability indicator. Results Neighborhoods of food deserts presented worse essential service availability, lower income per capita, and smaller mean number of literate individuals. Census tracts classified as food swamps presented better socio-demographic conditions than those areas food deserts. Neighborhoods simultaneously classified as food deserts and food swamps presented lower income per capita and were more often observed in census sectors presenting medium and high HVI. Conclusion The food environment in Belo Horizonte was featured by the strong presence of food deserts and food swamps. However, the potential influence of these areas on food intake has changed depending on social inequalities.

and the associated factors among Brazilian adolescents. Methods: Cross-sectional study with data from the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents conducted in 2013-2014, with 58,707 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years-old who attended public schools. Logistic regression models were stratified by sex and the significance level of 5% was adopted for all analyses. Results: There was low adherence to school meals (17.2%). The chance of regular consumption of school meals was higher among male adolescents belonging to the medium (p<0.05) and the low (p<0.05) socioeconomic score categories. For females, the chance of regular consumption of food offered at school was higher among black-skinned, brownskinned, indigenous-skinned or yellow-skinned adolescents (p<0.05), aged 16 and 17 (p<0.05), who worked (p<0.001) and belonged to the medium (p<0.05) and low (p<0.05) socioeconomic score categories. The regular purchase of food in school cafeterias reduced the chance of regular consumption of school meals for males (p<0.001) and females (p<0.001). Conclusions: Adherence to the food offered by the PNAE is far from ideal, and it is important to create public policies that encourage the consumption of school meals and improve adherence. In addition, the strengthening and drafting of regulations aimed at the sale of food in the interior and surrounding schools' areas is necessary.