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Retail food environment in a Brazilian metropolis over the course of a decade: evidence of restricted availability of healthy foods

Abstract Objective: To evaluate changes in the retail food environment profile in a Brazilian metropolis over a 10-year period. Design: An ecological study was conducted in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The addresses of formal food establishments were geocoded and classified according to their sold-food profile. Density changes were analysed according to neighbourhood, population size, income level and geospatial distribution. Setting: Totally, 468 neighbourhoods in the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Participants: Totally, 83 752 formal food establishments registered for operation in any one or more of those years: 2008, 2011, 2015 and 2018. Results: There was an increase in unhealthy establishments (154 %), followed by mixed (51 %) and healthy establishments (32 %), during the period evaluated, in addition to an increase in density according to income categories. There was a higher proportion of unhealthy establishments in relation to healthy establishments, indicating worsening of the community food environment over time. Conclusions: Over the course of 10 years, changes in the neighbourhood’s food environment were unfavourable for adequate access to healthy foods in lower-income neighbourhoods. The findings reinforce the need for interventions aimed at increasing the availability of businesses that offer healthy food in the city.