ArticleBMC public health2022
Changes in retail food environments around schools over 12 years and associations with overweight and obesity among children and adolescents in Flanders, Belgium.
Article in BMC public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Food Environment and Childhood Overweight/Obesity: A Systematic Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Pooled it
- Spatiotemporal trends in food deserts, food swamps and food environments around schools in Wallonia, Belgium (2008-2024).Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Slushies before school: exploring how nearby food outlets impact the eating behaviours of secondary students in Perth, Western Australia.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Temptation at the school fence: a qualitative exploration of the impact of external food outlets on the school community.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Urban South African Adolescents' Perspectives on Healthy and Unhealthy Foods and the Drivers of Their Food Choices in Their School Food Environment: A Pilot Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Citizen science for healthier food environments: a realist-informed process evaluation of the big food map app in Flanders, Belgium.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Healthfulness of street food outlets around public schools in Mexico.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Temporal evolution of the food environment in Brazilian public and private schools: analysis of Brazil's National Student Health Survey (PeNSE) (2012, 2015 and 2019).BMC public health · 2025Article
- Evaluation of Food Retail Policies Implementation in China Using the Healthy Food Environment Policy Index.Nutrients · 2025Article
- What Is There to Buy? An Analysis of the Food Environment in Public and Private Schools in the Federal District.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Food Environment Around Schools in a Capital City in Southern Brazil: Changes in the Availability of Commercial Food Establishments Between 2012 and 2019.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Retrospective analysis of regional and metropolitan school food environments using Google Street View: A case study in New South Wales, Australia with youth consultation.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2025Article
- Association between neighbourhood food environment and dietary quality among adolescents in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Heliyon · 2025Article
- Association Between the Food Environment Around Schools and Food Consumption of Adolescents in Large and Small Municipalities in Southern Brazil.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Rising socioeconomic disparities in childhood overweight and obesity in Belgium.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2024Article
- Adolescents' use of online food delivery applications and perceptions of healthy food options and food safety: a cross-sectional study in the United Arab Emirates.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Article
- Dietary Pattern Indicators among Healthy and Unhealthy Weight Adolescents Residing in Different Contexts across the Otago Region, New Zealand.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The Changing Landscape of Food Deserts and Swamps over More than a Decade in Flanders, Belgium.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChildren are susceptible to the food environment. This research assessed changes in retail food environments near schools in Flanders between 2008 and 2020 and associations with children's and adolescents' weight status.
methodsThe food environment within a 500 m and 1000 m road network distance to all primary and secondary schools was mapped using spatial indicators. The commercial Locatus database, including addresses of all food retailers in Flanders, was used to calculate the density of different types of food retailers near the school perimeter, the percentage of schools with at least one food retailer of a certain type near the school perimeter and the shortest distance from the school entrance to the nearest food retailer of a certain type. A generalized linear model was used to explore associations between these indicators and the percentage of children and adolescents with overweight at the school level.
resultsFood environments near schools in Flanders were found to be unhealthy in 2020, with a significant increase in fast food restaurants and convenience stores between 2008 and 2020. The density of fast food restaurants within a 1000 m walking distance from primary and secondary schools increased from 5.3 ±0.3 to 6.3 ±0.4 and from 10.2 ±0.7 to 12.7 ±0.9 respectively between 2008 and 2020, while the density of convenience stores increased from 3.2 ±0.3 to 3.8 ±0.4 and from 6.2 ±0.6 to 7.6 ±0.8 respectively. Food environments near schools with a higher proportion of children from a poor socio-economic background were found unhealthier, regardless of the urbanization level. A significant positive association was found between the density of fast food restaurants as well as the density of convenience stores around primary schools and the percentage of children aged < 6 years and 6-12 years with overweight. A positive, not significant association was found between the density of fast food restaurants as well as the density of convenience stores around secondary schools and the percentage of adolescents, aged 13-14 and 15-18 years with overweight.
conclusionFood environments around schools in Flanders became unhealthier over time and were associated with children's weight status.
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