SALURBAL Researchers Share Work at the Latin American Nutrition Society (SLAN) Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico
December 19, 2018
Several researchers from the Salud Urbana en América Latina (SALURBAL) project recently participated in the 2018 Latin American Nutrition Society (SLAN) Conference, which took place from November 11-15 in Guadalajara, Mexico. On November 12, four project researchers led a SALURBAL-focused symposium titled “Building healthier, more equitable and environmentally friendly cities.” The symposium was an opportunity to share preliminary results from three studies and their implications for the design construction of policies that could benefit populations in urban Latin America.
SALURBAL Symposium
Manuel Ramírez–Zea, MD, PhD of the Guatemalan branch of the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP) and one of SALURBAL’s co-investigators moderated the symposium, which featured three studies. The symposium also introduced the audience to the Urban Health Network for Latin America and the Caribbean and allowed opportunity to discuss research findings and ask questions.
Panelists featured in the event were Fernanda Kroker-Lobos, PhD (INCAP, Guatemala), Carolina Pérez-Ferrer (Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Mexico) and Mariana Carvalho de Menezes, PhD (FIOCRUZ, Brazil). The Symposium highlighted the diversity of SALURBAL’s methods and approaches to issues related to food systems and nutrition, as well as the multiple policy implications and linkages that these issues have with health outcomes in cities.
Presentation Profiles
- Using the theory of systems and Group Model Building workshops to better understand the dynamic relationships of the food environment and the transportation system in Latin American cities (Dr. Kroker-Lobos)
This presentation described the main objectives and scope of the SALURBAL "Urban Health in Latin America" project and the results of three workshops held with experts in Lima, São Paulo and Guatemala where participants used systems
thinking techniques to build maps describing the interrelated factors within the food and transport systems that determine the diet and health of populations. The presentation emphasized the methodology used during workshops and the
areas of opportunity that, according to the experts consulted, are necessary to improve the food environment in the cities.
- Food environment in Latin American cities: What do we know and what do we still need to investigate? (Dr.Pérez Ferrer)
Dr. Pérez Ferrer presented the results of a systematic review of the scientific literature in order to identify and synthesize the literature on the food environment in Latin America .Both descriptive and analytical studies were selected under the
type of food environment according to framework of the International Network for Food and Obesity / non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMES), namely, food sales, labeling, promotion, composition,
and price. The results were presented with a focus on what we know about the sale and promotion of food in Latin American cities. The opportunity areas identified for both public policy and future research were also discussed.
- Food establishments in Latin America: standardization and validation (Dr. Carvalho de Menezes)
Dr. Carvalho presented the results of a study aimed at developing a qualitative inventory of the types of food establishments and retailers present in Latin America in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the food retailing in the region.
This work proposes a standardization and definition of the nomenclatures and classifications of the types of food stores according to the reality of Latin America, based on a working group formed by experts in the field of the food environment
of ten Latin American countries.
To follow SALURBAL research outcomes, keep checking our Publications page.
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