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    Item type:Publication,
    Food Availability in Different Food Environments Surrounding Schools in a Vulnerable Urban Area of Santiago, Chile: Exploring Socioeconomic Determinants
    (2022) ; ;
    Jacqueline Araneda Flores
    ;
    Claudio Álvarez
    ;
    Mónica Suárez-Reyes
    <jats:p>The analysis of the food environment is used to identify areas with gaps in the availability of healthy foods and can be used as a public policy assessment tool. In recent decades, Chile has implemented several strategies and regulations to improve food environments, with encouraging results. Little is known about the scope of these measures in socially vulnerable environments. This study is part of a project that seeks to build an integrated intervention model for healthy school environments in a vulnerable area of Santiago, Chile. The objective of this study was to evaluate the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods around schools and the relationship between it and socioeconomic determinants of the school community in the Chilean context. A cross-sectional study to measure the food environment of informal markets (street food), formal markets (stores), and institutions (schools) was conducted in and around 12 schools (100 m surrounding schools) in a vulnerable urban area of Santiago, Chile. A lack of healthy foods was observed, which was related to some socio-economic determinants and the multidimensional poverty was the most relevant. The diagnosis of food environments around schools can represent an important target for governments to implement policies focused at improving the availability of healthy foods.</jats:p>
      1Scopus© Citations 25  6
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    Item type:Publication,
    Diet quality of Chilean schoolchildren: How is it linked to adherence to dietary guidelines?
    (Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2025-02-06) ;
    Jacqueline Araneda Flores
    ;
    ;
    Tito Pizarro Quevedo
    ;
    Maria Rita Marques de Oliveira
    In Chile, the prevalence of overweight among schoolchildren over the age of 5 is approximately 50%, one of the highest in the Americas region. This is largely influenced by the presence of inadequate food environments, characterized by limited access to healthy foods and a high availability of highly processed foods (HPF). This study analyzes food consumption in Chilean schoolchildren and the association of this with the Chilean Dietary Guidelines Based on Foods (DGBF) and the HPF consumption.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec id="sec002"> <jats:title>Material and methods</jats:title> <jats:p>The sample (1,094 schoolchildren) was obtained from the baseline of the FONDEF IT18I0016 project, in Santiago-Chile. Anthropometry and socioeconomic data were measured. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated semi-quantitative frequency survey featuring images of food groups aligned with DGBF, as well as HPF. All data were collected by trained professional nutritionists. Associations between dependent and independent variables, and potential confounding factors were calculated using logistic regression models with stepwise backward/forward. A p &lt; 0.05 was accepted as significant, using Stata 16.0. <jats:p>Most of the students (54.1%) were with malnutrition by excess and 20.0% exhibited abdominal obesity. Twenty percent of the students met the recommended intake for DGBF (fruits, vegetables, fish, milk and dairy products, legumes, water) and less than 5% did not consume any HPF. Consuming some sub-groups of HPF in moderate quantities (either no consumption or occasional consumption) increases the likelihood of meeting DGBF: candies and sweets (OR: 0.72; p = 0.04), pies with or without filling (OR: 0.63; p = 0.01), and salted snacks (OR: 0.67; p = 0.02).</jats:p> Conclusion Our results contribute to reaffirm the need to enhance healthy food consumption among schoolchildren and to discourage the intake of HPF, particularly focusing on specific sub-groups of HPF that may increase the risk of displacing the consumption of food groups recommended by the DGBF.</jats:p>
      4
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    Item type:Publication,
    Lifestyle Habits and Health Indicators in Migrants and Native Schoolchildren in Chile
    (2021)
    Mónica Suárez-Reyes
    ;
    Daiana Quintiliano-Scarpelli
    ;
    ;
    Cristian Cofré-Bolados
    ;
    Tito Pizarro
    <jats:p>In Chile, the migrant population has increased in the last years. Migrants adopt behaviors of this new culture, which can have an effect on their health. Contradictory results regarding differences between migrant and native children have been reported. The aim of this study was to explore the associations between nationality with health indicator and lifestyle habits among schoolchildren in Chile. A cross-sectional and observational study with a non-probabilistic sample was conducted in 1033 children (86.4% Chilean and 13.6% migrant) from second to fourth grade of seven public schools from low-income municipalities from the Metropolitan Region, Chile. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference, triceps and subscapular folds), handgrip strength, and standing long jump measurements, physical activity, self-esteem and food guidelines accomplishments were determined. Migrant children presented lower body mass index (BMI), Z-BMI, body fat% and waist circumference values; and higher handgrip strength, standing long jump, and more satisfactory compliance with food guidelines than natives (p &lt; 0.05). No significant difference for physical activity and self-esteem was observed. In the adjusted models, migrants presented lower odds for overweight/obesity, risk of abdominal obesity, low handgrip strength and unsatisfactory food guidelines accomplishment in all models (p &lt; 0.05). The nutritional and muscular fitness of migrant children was better than that of the Chilean ones.</jats:p>
      1Scopus© Citations 8  1
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    Food insecurity and its determinants in a vulnerable area of Santiago, Chile
    (2022) ; ;
    Jacqueline Araneda-Flores
    ;
    Rogerio Antonio de Oliveira
    ;
    Tito Pizarro
    <jats:p>This study aims to identify the determinants associated to food insecurity in a group of households composed of schoolchildren and their mothers/caregivers, who lived in a low-to-medium community development index area of the city of Santiago, Chile with a high presence of migrant population. The non-probabilistic and convenience sample was made up of 646 people, who answered a series of surveys with the aim of characterizing this group in sociodemographic terms (sex, age, number of inhabitants in the household, place of food purchase, conditional or non-conditional state transfer program beneficiary status, persons in charge of purchasing food for the household, mothers/caregivers education level and basic knowledge of food and nutrition). To assess moderate-to-severe food insecurity and severe food insecurity, the Food Insecurity Experience Scale-FIES was applied between September and October 2021. Logistic regression analysis were used to carry out multivariate analyses, with the use of stepwise back-and-forward strategies for the selected variables and defining <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.05. These models were adjusted per number of inhabitants in the household. The results indicate that 25.4% of households presented moderate-to-severe food insecurity, and 6.4% severe food insecurity experience. The variables that presented significant odds of risk to food insecurity were being a migrant, low maternal education level, low performance on basic knowledge in nutrition and when the father was responsible for food purchases. Several public policies have been implemented in Chile during the most recent decades aimed at increasing access to healthier foods and the implementation of healthier food environments. Despite this, there are still social and economic health determinants that contribute to the risk of odds insecurity for the most vulnerable groups in the country, thus putting at risk the fulfillment of the human right to adequate food at risk.</jats:p>
      1Scopus© Citations 4  4
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    Item type:Publication,
    Effects of school closure on lifestyle behaviours and health outcomes in children during the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 pandemic in Chile: A time‐matched analysis
    (2024)
    Mónica Suárez‐Reyes
    ;
    Rodrigo Fernández‐Verdejo
    ;
    ;
    Anna Cristina Pinheiro
    ;
    Tito Pizarro
    <jats:title>Summary</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>The COVID‐19 pandemic led to school closures, potentially impairing children's behaviours and health. We aimed to explore the effects of school closure on lifestyle behaviours (dietary habits, physical activity) and health outcomes (adiposity, fitness, self‐esteem, self‐concept) in children.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>We measured 247 children before school closure (October–November 2019) and after school reopening (October–November 2021) (COVID‐19 group). To distinguish the changes due to school closure from changes due to growth, we included 655 age‐matched children with cross‐sectional measurements in October–November 2019 (control group). The response of this group (i.e., differences between children with 2 years of difference) was considered the expected response to growth. Two‐way ANOVA was used to test age‐by‐group interactions, indicating an effect of school closure.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>In 7‐to‐9‐year‐old children, the COVID‐19 group had larger‐than‐expected decreases in physical activity (by 0.4 points), resulting in higher physical inactivity prevalence (by 19 percent points) at 9 years. This was accompanied by larger‐than‐expected increases in fat percentage (by 6.1 percent point). In 8‐to‐10‐year‐old children, the COVID‐19 group had higher physical inactivity prevalence at 10 years (by 20 percent points). This was accompanied by larger‐than‐expected increases in fat percentage (by 8.3 percent points), z‐score BMI (by 0.90 units), and waist circumference (by 6.1 cm). In 9‐to‐11‐year‐old children, the COVID‐19 group had larger‐than‐expected decreases in physical activity (by 0.3 points) and increases in self‐concept (by 0.2 points). The response in dietary habits, fitness, or self‐esteem was not different between groups.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>Overall, school closure negatively impacted physical activity and adiposity, particularly in the youngest children.</jats:p></jats:sec>
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