Snack food advertising in stores around public schools in Guatemala

Abstract

Obesity in school-age children is emerging as a public heath concern. Food marketing influences preferences and increases children's requests for food. This study sought to describe the type of snack foods advertised to children in stores in and around public schools and assess if there is an association between child-oriented snack food advertising and proximity to schools. All food stores located inside and within a 200 square meter radius from two preschools and two primary schools were surveyed. We assessed store type, number and type of snack food advertisements including those child-oriented inside and outside stores. We surveyed 55 stores and found 321 snack food advertisements. Most were on sweetened beverages (37%) and soft drinks (30%). Ninety-two (29%) were child-oriented. Atoles (100.0%), cereals (94.1%), and ice cream and frozen desserts (71.4%) had the greatest proportion of child-oriented advertising. We found more child-oriented advertisements in stores that were closer (<170 m) to schools compared to those farther away. In conclusion, the food industry is flooding the market, taking advantage of the lack of strict regulation in Guatemala. Child-oriented advertisements are available in almost all stores within a short walking distance from schools, exposing children to an obesogenic environment.

Impact of school and work status on diet and physical activity in rural Guatemalan adolescent girls: a qualitative study

“…These findings are similar to urban Guatemalan schools and described how, in that setting, energy-dense snacks and sugarsweetened beverages available at kiosks around schools comprise a large proportion of the school food environment. [18][19][20]32 Even though out-of-school and working adolescents seem to have less eating habit disruption, they struggled to find time for physical activity and therefore had a much more sedentary lifestyle than their counterparts enrolled in school. They identified home and work responsibilities, significant life changes (e.g., pregnancy) triggering transition out of school, and access to opportunities afforded by the school environment as limiting factors to exercise.…”

“…In contrast, participants not enrolled in school and working purchased processed food less often (50%) 19 Ann. N.Y. Acad.…”

“…For example, junk food vendors in close proximity to schools are important drivers of adolescent diet quality in Brazil 17 and Guatemala. 18,19 In addition, family or community gender norms as well as differential opportunities doi: 10.1111/nyas.14183 for girls to participate in sports both in community and school venues are important determinants of physical activities disparities in Guatemala, 20 Nigeria, 21 India, 22 and Costa Rica. 23 Similarly, differential responsibility for domestic chores has been reported that adversely affect lifestyle habits for girls in several settings.…”

“…Therefore, understanding the impact of out-of-school (e.g., due to work and motherhood) status on adolescent behaviors in an LMIC setting is an important research priority. In Guatemala, around half of adolescents and young adults (aged [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] are out of school. Girls are more likely to be out of school (55%) than are boys (49%).…”

‘Big Food’: taking a critical perspective on a global public health problem

“…In Mongolia and the Philippines (Kelly et al, 2015) and in Guatemala (Chacon, Letona, Villamor, & Barnoya, 2015), food advertising, in general, and child-oriented food advertising, in particular, were more frequent in areas nearer to schools. Chacon et al (2015) also found that one-third of all snack food advertisements in stores within short walking distance of schools are child oriented.…”