[Food: a disputed human right - a thematic focus for comprehension and action in food and nutritional security]

Acceptability of School Menus: A Systematic Review of Assessment Methods

The school meal promotes healthy eating habits through nutritionally adequate preparations. Consequently, it prevents obesity and malnutrition, favoring learning. This systematic review aimed at investigating the methods for evaluating the acceptance of school menus offered by school feeding programs (SFPs) around the world. Specific search strategies were conducted on PubMed, Lilacs, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, Google Scholar, and ProQuest Global. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Meta-Analysis Statistical Assessment and Review Instrument. A total of 89 studies were included. The countries with the highest number of studies were Brazil (n = 42), South Korea (n = 13), and the United States (n = 12). The most used methods (69.66%) were numerical scales, with a higher prevalence for the 5-point scale (50.56%). Other methods included questionnaires and/or interviews with objective and/or subjective questions (44.94%); and mathematical formulas and/or visual estimates evaluating the consumption of food and leftovers (40.45%). The prevalent use of the 5-point hedonic scale may be due to its low cost, simplicity, ease of elaboration, application speed, and student understanding. Mathematical formulas and/or visual estimation were used by about 40% of the studies, but it is difficult to compare studies.

COVID- 19 and human right to food: lived experiences of the urban poor in Kenya with the impacts of government's response measures, a participatory qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Globally, governments put in place measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Information on the effects of these measures on the urban poor is limited. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of the urban poor in Kenya in the context of government's COVID-19 response measures and its impact on the human right to food.

METHODS

A qualitative study was conducted in two informal settlements in Nairobi between January and March 2021. Analysis draws on eight focus group discussions, eight in-depth interviews, 12 key informant interviews, two photovoice sessions and three digital storytelling sessions. Phenomenology was applied to understand an individual's lived experiences with the human right to food during COVID - 19. Thematic analysis was performed using NVIVO software.

RESULTS

The human right to food was affected in various ways. Many people lost their livelihoods, affecting affordability of food, due to response measures such as social distancing, curfew, and lockdown. The food supply chain was disrupted causing limited availability and access to affordable, safe, adequate, and nutritious food. Consequently, hunger and an increased consumption of low-quality food was reported. Social protection measures were instituted. However, these were inadequate and marred by irregularities. Some households resorted to scavenging food from dumpsites, skipping meals, sex-work, urban-rural migration and depending on food donations to survive. On the positive side, some households resorted to progressive measures such as urban farming and food sharing in the community. Generally, the response measures could have been more sensitive to the human rights of the urban poor.

CONCLUSIONS

The government's COVID-19 restrictive measures exacerbated the already existing vulnerability of the urban poor to food insecurity and violated their human right to food. Future response measures should be executed in ways that respect the human right to food and protect marginalized people from resultant vulnerabilities.

Direito humano à alimentação adequada e objetivos do desenvolvimento sustentável: interferências coletivas com crianças em periferias vulnerabilizadas

Resumo Este artigo teve como objetivo analisar as relações entre o Direito Humano à Alimentação Adequada (DHAA) e os Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) que emergem de ações dialógicas com crianças e adolescentes em periferias urbanas vulnerabilizadas de São Vicente, São Paulo. Utilizando referencial metodológico das pesquisas participativas, a observação e registros de assembleias comunitárias e da parceria entre universidade pública e movimento social apontam para espaços de acolhimento às crianças e adolescentes que viabilizam leituras diagnósticas coletivas sobre a alimentação. Esses processos dialógicos permitem problematizar as dimensões do DHAA a partir da cadeia de produção, comercialização e consumo de alimentos, além da instabilidade a que essas crianças e adolescentes estão submetidos, em uma complexa rede de determinantes que produzem má-nutrição nos territórios onde vivem. Os resultados apontam que estas dimensões dialogam com todos os ODS, na medida em que demandam a sustentabilidade cultural, econômica, social e ambiental da alimentação. A parceria e a integração entre universidade e sociedade fortalece e potencializa os espaços de controle social e formação dos atores para a luta pelo DHAA, e pode também produzir efeitos de transformação nas desigualdades nos territórios e reconhecer a criança como sujeito de direitos com profundo rigor ético na construção de escutas inclusivas e de práticas qualificadas.

The human right to adequate food and sustainable development goals: collective interferences with children in vulnerable urban peripheries

Abstract This study aimed to analyze the relation between the Human Right to Adequate Food (HRAF) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) resulting from a dialogic experience with children and adolescents in the periphery of São Vicente, São Paulo. Using the methodological framework of participatory research, community assemblies observation, and the partnership between the university and social movements point to a caring place for children/adolescents that enable collective diagnostic readings on food. Dialogical processes enable us to problematize HRAF dimensions based on the chain of food production, trading and consumption, and the instability to which those children/adolescents are subjected in a complex network of determinants that produce hunger and malnutrition in the territories in which they live. Results show that these dimensions dialogue with all the SDGs, as they demand cultural, economic, social, and environmental sustainability of food. The partnership and integration between university and society strengthens and enhances the spaces of social control and training of actors to advocate for the HRAF. It can also change inequalities in the territories and acknowledge children as subjects of rights with deep ethical commitment in the construction of inclusive listening and qualified practices.

["If you're talking about poor communities, forget it!": (lack of) human rights advocacy for adequate food in primary healthcare]

This study aimed to understand the forms of professional work and proposed actions to achieve the human right to adequate food (HRAF) in the context of primary healthcare (PHC). Using a qualitative approach, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews (from May 2013 to July 2014) with healthcare workers that conducted educational groups on food and nutrition in PHC in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Content analysis was performed to identify the proposed actions on food, with HRAF as the theoretical basis. We identified three categories of professional work based on the proposed actions for food and nutrition. The first approaches food as a biomedical dimension. The second focuses on access and availability of foods in the territory. The third approaches users' local food reality, centered on the team's work. The proposed actions feature those conducted by individuals with obligations towards HRAF (healthcare workers in PHC) and those performed by rights-holder (users of PHC in the Brazilian Unified National Health System). Food in contexts of poverty is treated as a problem with no solution. This study allowed approximations between "what to do" and "how to act" based on ways of grasping food through the definitions, professional work, and proposed actions to achieve HRAF in PHC. It also allowed elucidating the need to understand food as a human right and strengthening the responsibility of healthcare workers in PHC as duty-bearers towards HRAF in the context of social policies.

Food Security and coexistence with the semiarid zone in areas affected by drought in the backlands of Pernambuco

ABSTRACT Objective Between 2010 and 2017, it was registered one of the most intense droughts in the Brazilian Northeastern Semiarid region, when the rainfall was below the historical level for the region. This context was related to water scarcity for human consumption and productive activities in this territory, where the semiarid backlands of the state of Pernambuco are located. The objective of this study was to assess the condition of food security and its associated factors in areas affected by drought in the semiarid zone of Pernambuco, Brazil. Methods It was a cross-sectional study on a populational base. Data were collected by socioeconomic and demographic surveys, and the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale, which were applied to 252 households, from September to October 2015. The data was analyzed by socioeconomic and demographic characterization of the households, and the identification of the food insecurity prevalence and its associated factors, by Poisson regression. Results The prevalence of food insecurity was high (74.6%). Among those, 9,1% were on starvation, which means severe insecurity. Food insecurity was statistically associated to sanitation, per capita income, and the number of household residents. Lack of money was the main self-reported cause to food insecurity. Conclusion The high prevalence of food insecurity being associated to indicators of great social vulnerability shows the role of social and economic inequities on the inadequate access to food amongst families in the semiarid zone on a nearly generalized low-income context. These findings corroborate to the evident need of expanding and reinforcing public policies, as well sustainable development models to prioritize and promote social inclusion of communities at greater vulnerabilities in the Brazilian semiarid area. Thus, the need of these economic and social public strategies is highlighted by the worsening of historical vulnerable conditions due to the cycles of droughts on this region.

Coronavirus, Capitalism in Crisis and the Perversity of Public Health in Bolsonaro’s Brazil

This article aims to discuss the meaning of the coronavirus crisis as an integral part of the totality of the capitalist crisis and its implication in the health area of Brazilian capitalism, in which the rise of ultraliberal and neofascist policies is witnessed by the Bolsonaro government. To this end, we opted for a historical-dialectical materialist analysis of the situation experienced between the global beginning of the pandemic until the month of May 2020 in Brazil. The article is structured in 2 parts: The first discusses the problem of agrifood systems in the context of capitalism in crisis and its effects on the spread of diseases such as the coronavirus, and the second discusses the neglect of the Bolsonaro government in facing the COVID-19 pandemic and the Brazilian universal health system. Evidence shows that the Bolsonaro government has led to more deaths and more of the barbarism of capitalism. The scenario after the pandemic will be one of a country with a more or less intense capitalist crisis depending on the resistance of workers in the defense of public health and lives.

Qualidade dos alimentos segundo o sistema de produção e sua relação com a segurança alimentar e nutricional: revisão sistemática

Resumo A garantia da segurança alimentar e nutricional (SAN) por meio da oferta de alimentos de qualidade é essencial para o desenvolvimento humano e fator de proteção para melhores condições de saúde da população. O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar a qualidade dos alimentos, segundo o sistema de produção, e sua relação com a SAN. Trata-se de uma revisão sistemática da literatura baseada no método Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (Prisma), cujo levantamento de dados totalizou 389 estudos, sendo 14 incluídos. Os estudos comparativos entre alimentos produzidos em sistemas convencionais e alternativos de base ecológica mostraram efeitos benéficos destes últimos à saúde, uma vez que possuem qualidade nutricional superior e são mais seguros para o consumo. Em relação ao impacto ambiental, tais alimentos favorecem a produção sustentável. Ao contrário, o modelo de produção convencional mostrou limitações, como a contaminação mundial da cadeia alimentar por resíduos de agrotóxicos e fertilizantes sintéticos que podem causar danos à saúde e ao meio ambiente, levando à insegurança alimentar e nutricional. Informações que contribuam para o fortalecimento dos sistemas agroalimentares sustentáveis são ferramentas essenciais para criação de políticas públicas que atuem como estratégia intersetorial de promoção da saúde e de segurança alimentar e nutricional.

Abordagem de segurança alimentar nutricional nos currículos das universidades federais brasileiras: principais enfoques

Resumo O nutricionista é um profissional importante para a promoção da saúde individual e coletiva, tendo em vista a realização da segurança alimentar e nutricional (SAN), que focaliza o direito humano à alimentação adequada (DHAA) e se constitui estratégia de ações e políticas que pautam o próprio DHAA, a soberania alimentar e o enfoque sistêmico. Nesse sentido, a formação do nutricionista deve incluir conteúdos que subsidiem a sua tarefa de promoção da alimentação adequada e saudável, comprometida com os princípios do Sistema Único de Saúde, na perspectiva da SAN. Este estudo analisou 27 projetos pedagógicos do curso de nutrição de universidades federais das cinco regiões do país, visando identificar como a SAN aparece nos currículos e se constitui elemento para a construção do perfil profissional. A análise evidenciou que, apesar de a maioria estar em consonância com as orientações das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais em relação ao perfil esperado para o egresso, o tema é abordado por um número restrito de disciplinas, apontando baixa representatividade dos conteúdos de SAN em relação a outros conteúdos disciplinares. Conclui-se que o fortalecimento do tema na formação refletirá na atuação do profissional engajado e comprometido com a sua realização no cotidiano.

Food availability and food insecurity in households in the state of Tocantins, Northern Brazil

ABSTRACT Objective To assess the relationship between food availability, food insecurity and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of households in the urban area of the state of Tocantins. Methods Population-based, cross-sectional study conducted in 594 households in the urban area of 22 municipalities in the state of Tocantins. A survey was carried out in the households, to collect socioeconomic and data, and assess food insecurity using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Further a food availability questionnaire was applied by the interviewer with the head of the family, who reported on the food and drinks available at home in the last 30 days. The description of the food available in the households resulted in a total of 142 food items that were grouped according to the NOVA classification of foods. demographic Results It was found that 63.3% of households were in a situation of food insecurity. The median caloric availability found was 2,771.4kcal/per capita/day, with the largest caloric contribution coming from fresh and minimally processed foods, regardless of the degree of food insecurity. Food availability was affected by socioeconomic vulnerability and the situation of food insecurity in the families.