Preventive medicineApr 7, 2016

Unhealthy eating among Brazilian teens linked to school and nearby food options

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Apr 5, 2026

Abstract

Students attending schools with cafeterias selling soft drinks had a higher likelihood of consuming these unhealthy foods, with odds ratios of 1.23 for private schools and 1.13 for public schools.

The presence of cafeterias in schools selling deep fried salty snacks was linked to increased consumption of these items among students, with odds ratios of 1.41 in private schools and 1.16 in public schools.
In private schools, availability of fruit and natural fruit juice in the cafeteria correlated with reduced consumption of bagged salty snacks and soft drinks, with odds ratios of 0.86 and 0.85, respectively.
Participation in the Brazilian School Food Program in public schools was associated with lower consumption of unhealthy foods among students.
The study highlights the role of the school food environment in influencing adolescents' dietary choices.

Simplified

BACKGROUND: Evidence of the influence of the school food environment on adolescent diet is still little explored in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to evaluate the association between food environment in schools and the immediate vicinity and the regular consumption of unhealthy food among adolescents.

METHODS: We used cross-sectional data collected by the Brazilian National Survey of School Health (PeNSE) from a representative sample of adolescents attending 9th grade public and private schools in Brazil, in 2012. We estimated students' regular consumption (>5days/week) of unhealthy food (soft drinks, bagged salty snacks, deep fried salty snacks and sweets) and school availability, in the cafeteria or an alternative outlet, of the same food plus some healthy options (fruit and natural fruit juice). We performed multilevel logistic regression models.

RESULTS: Having a cafeteria inside school selling soft drinks (private schools OR=1.23; 95% CI=1.14-1.33; public schools OR=1.13; 95% CI=1.06-1.20) and deep fried salty snacks (private schools OR=1.41 95% CI=1.26-1.57; public schools OR=1.16 95% CI=1.08-1.24) was associated with a higher consumption of these unhealthy foods of among students. In private schools, cafeteria selling fruit and natural fruit juice was associated with lower student consumption of bagged salty snacks (OR=0.86; 95% CI 0.77-0.96) and soft drinks (OR=0.85; 95% CI=0.76-0.94). In addition, eating meals from the Brazilian School Food Program in public schools was associated with a lower consumption of unhealthy foods.

CONCLUSIONS: Foods available in the school food environment are associated with the consumption of unhealthy food among adolescents in Brazil.

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Unhealthy eating among Brazilian teens linked to school and nearby food options

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