1. Healthycasetas: A potential strategy to improve the food environment in low-income schools to reduce obesity in children in Guatemala City
- Author
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Elisa L. Pehlke, Joel Gittelsohn, Paola Letona, and Manuel Ramirez-Zea
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ,Pediatric Obesity ,Psychological intervention ,Medicine (miscellaneous) ,Overweight ,Suburban Health ,Food Supply ,0302 clinical medicine ,Health Transition ,Poverty Areas ,Prevalence ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Marketing ,Child ,Qualitative Research ,health care economics and organizations ,Schools ,Ecology ,Food Services ,General Medicine ,Focus Groups ,Guatemala ,Investment (macroeconomics) ,Models, Economic ,Workforce ,Diet, Healthy ,medicine.symptom ,Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena ,Needs Assessment ,Vendor ,education ,Article ,Childhood obesity ,Food Preferences ,03 medical and health sciences ,Environmental health ,medicine ,Humans ,Developing Countries ,030109 nutrition & dietetics ,Earnings ,business.industry ,medicine.disease ,Focus group ,Socioeconomic Factors ,Patient Compliance ,business ,Food Science ,Qualitative research - Abstract
Developing countries have undergone rapid transitions driven by globalization and development, which have accelerated increases in prevalence of overweight and obesity among children. Schools have been identified as effective settings for early intervention and favorable arenas in which to target children's dietary behaviors. In Guatemala, public schools commonly have food kiosks (casetas) which provide food and drink for sale to children. From July through October 2013, observation during recess, in-depth interviews with school principals (n=4) and caseta vendors (n=4), and focus groups with children (n=48) were conducted. This paper explores products currently available to children at casetas. We found that current factors that impact what casetas offer and subsequent nutrition habits of children at school include: regulations and enforcement; vendor investment and earnings; vendor challenges related to resources (i.e. refrigeration); the current economy and product demand; product pricing; and children's product preferences. These factors influence the products that are available and children's tendency to purchase them. Potential strategies that emerged include healthy food preparation to improve product health and quality, price manipulation and promotions, raffles and games to encourage healthy product consumption, as well as government and corporate involvement to push policy toward development of healthier products.
- Published
- 2016