July 30, 2018

Food and Urban Health  

In spring 2018, the SALURBAL (Salud Urbana en América Latina, or Urban Health in Latin America) project launched the most recent in its policy brief series on urban health challenges in Latin America. Food and Urban Health: Lessons from Latin America examines important challenges in urban nutrition in the context of demographic changes, poverty, and markets and regulations.

Food systems, from production and processing to distribution and consumption, shape nutrition and urban health; their form and function have significant impacts on the prevalence of overweight and obesity and non-communicable diseases, among other health issues. This brief describes mechanisms that can be implemented to affect food-related behaviors and consumption, and highlights innovative policies, laws, and programs from the Latin American region. Recommendations build upon best regional practices and suggest integrated and intersectoral responses.

SALURBAL is a five-year project launched in April 2017, aimed at better understanding how urban environments and urban policies impact the health of city residents throughout the region. SALURBAL is led by the project's Principal Investigator Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health Dean and Urban Health Collaborative Director. The SALURBAL team of the Urban Health Collaborative convenes a consortium of partners to implement the project including the United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and academic institutions across Latin America. Their findings will inform policies and interventions to create healthier, more equitable, and more sustainable cities worldwide. SALURBAL is funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of its Our Planet, Our Health initiative, which focuses on the connections between the environment and human health, and thus builds on the emerging paradigm of Planetary Health.

For more information or to join LAC-Urban Health, please visit our Network page.