ArticlePublic health nutrition2019
Nutrient profile and energy cost of food sold by informal food vendors to learners in primary and secondary schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Obesogenicity of food in the informal food retail environment of low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of Street Food Availability on Nutritional Intake and Diet-Related Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- Comparison of an Open versus List-Based Dietary Recall Method to Assess Unhealthy Feeding Practices among Infants and Young Children.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Article
- Assessing the school food environment and its role on healthy eating behaviours among school age children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.PloS one · 2025Article
- Stakeholder Perspectives on the School Food Environment: Insights from South African Learners-A Pilot Study.Nutrients · 2024Article
- School Food Environment in Urban Zambia: A Qualitative Analysis of Drivers of Adolescent Food Choices and Their Policy Implications.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Has Food Security and Nutritional Status Improved in Children 1-<10 Years in Two Provinces of South Africa between 1999 (National Food Consumption Survey) and 2018 (Provincial Dietary Intake Study (PDIS)).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The Price of Homemade Street Food in Central Asia and Eastern Europe: Is There a Relation with Its Nutritional Value?Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Identifying opportunities to strengthen school food environments in the Pacific: a case study in Samoa.BMC public health · 2021Article
- The Food and Nutrition Environment at Secondary Schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa as Reported by Learners.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess type, nutrient profile and cost of food items sold by informal vendors to learners; and to determine nutrient content of corn-based processed snacks frequently sold.
designCross-sectional survey.
settingQuintile 1 to 3 schools (n 36) randomly selected from six education districts; Eastern Cape, South Africa.
participantsInformal food vendors (n 92) selling inside or immediately outside the school premises.
resultsFood items sold at most schools were corn-based processed snacks (94 % of schools), sweets (89 %), lollipops (72 %) and biscuits (62 %). Based on the South African Nutrient Profiling model, none of these foods were profiled as healthy. Foods less commonly sold were fruits (28 % of schools) and animal-source foods; these foods were profiled as healthy. Mean (sd) energy cost (per 418 kJ (100 kcal)) was highest for animal-source foods (R2·95 (1·16)) and lowest for bread and vetkoek (R0·76 (0·21)), snacks (R0·76 (0·30)) and confectionery products (R0·70 (0·28)). The nutrient profiling score was inversely related to the energy cost of the food item (r = -0·562, P = 0·010). Compared with brand-name corn-based processed snacks, non-branded snacks had lower energy (2177 v. 2061 kJ; P = 0·031) content per 100 g. None of the brand-name samples contained sucrose; six of the nine non-branded samples contained sucrose, ranging from 4·4 to 6·2 g/100 g.
conclusionsFoods mostly sold were unhealthy options, with the healthier food items being more expensive sources of energy.
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