Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38169454›Full record

ArticlePublic health nutrition2024

Urban school neighbourhoods dominated by unhealthy food retailers and advertisements in Greater Tunis: a geospatial study in the midst of the nutrition transition.

Christelle Akl, Nehmat El-Helou, Gloria Safadi, Aline Semaan, Aya El Sammak, Tarek Trabelsi, Sonia Sassi, Chaza Akik, Jalila El Ati, Pierre Traissac and 2 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Public health nutrition, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.

Christelle AklCenter for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Nehmat El-HelouCenter for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Gloria SafadiCenter for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Aline SemaanCenter for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Aya El SammakCenter for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Tarek TrabelsiINNTA (National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology), SURVEN (Nutrition Surveillance and Epidemiology in Tunisia) Research Laboratory, Tunis1007, Tunisia.
Sonia SassiINNTA (National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology), SURVEN (Nutrition Surveillance and Epidemiology in Tunisia) Research Laboratory, Tunis1007, Tunisia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9857-7793
Chaza AkikCenter for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Jalila El AtiINNTA (National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology), SURVEN (Nutrition Surveillance and Epidemiology in Tunisia) Research Laboratory, Tunis1007, Tunisia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8715-455X
Pierre TraissacMoISA - University of Montpellier, CIRAD, CIHEAM-IAMM, INRAE, Institut Agro, IRD, Montpellier, France.
Hala GhattasCenter for Research on Population and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
SCALE Research Group
American University of Beirut · LBInstitut National de Nutrition et de Technologie Alimentaire · TNCentre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement · FRInstituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde · BEUniversity of South Carolina · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveFood environments are a major determinant of children's nutritional status. Scarce evidence on food environments exists in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This study aims to fill this gap by documenting the obesogenicity of food environments around schools in Greater Tunis, Tunisia - an LMIC of the Middle East and North Africa region with an ongoing nutrition transition and increasing rates of childhood obesity.

designIn this cross-sectional study, we assessed built food environments around fifty primary schools. Ground-truthing was performed to collect geographic coordinates and pictures of food retailers and food advertisement sets within an 800-m road network buffer of each school. Retailers and advertisement sets were categorised as healthy or unhealthy according to a NOVA-based classification. Associations between school characteristics and retailers or advertisement sets were explored using multinomial regression models.

settingGreater Tunis, Tunisia.

participantsRandom sample of fifty (thirty-five public and fifteen private) primary schools.

resultsOverall, 3621 food retailers and 2098 advertisement sets were mapped. About two-thirds of retailers and advertisement sets were labelled as unhealthy. Most retailers were traditional corner stores (22 %) and only 6 % were fruit and vegetable markets. The prevailing food group promoted was carbonated and sugar-sweetened beverages (22 %). The proportion of unhealthy retailers was significantly higher in the richest

conclusionsSchool neighbourhood food environments included predominantly unhealthy retailers and advertisements. Mapping of LMIC food environments is crucial to document the impact of the nutrition transition on children's nutritional status. This will inform policies and interventions to curb the emergent childhood obesity epidemic.

Indexed as

Pediatric ObesityAdvertisingChildCross-Sectional StudiesFruitHumansNutritional StatusSchoolsFood advertisementsGeographic information systemLow- and middle-incomeRetail food environmentsSchool neighbourhoods

Identifiers

PMID38169454
PMCPMC10882541
OpenAlexW4390519104

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.