Factors underlying compliance with a healthy snacking initiative in the school environment: accounts of school principals in Montevideo (Uruguay).

Objective: To evaluate the implementation of the Uruguayan healthy snacking initiative in primary and secondary schools in the capital, and to explore the factors underlying compliance from the perspective of school principals.

Design: A mixed-method approach was used, which included semi-structured interviews with school principals and a survey of the foods and beverages sold and advertised in the schools.

Setting: Primary and secondary schools in Montevideo (the capital city of Uruguay).

Consumers' conceptualization of ultra-processed foods.

Consumption of ultra-processed foods has been associated with low diet quality, obesity and other non-communicable diseases. This situation makes it necessary to develop educational campaigns to discourage consumers from substituting meals based on unprocessed or minimally processed foods by ultra-processed foods. In this context, the aim of the present work was to investigate how consumers conceptualize the term ultra-processed foods and to evaluate if the foods they perceive as ultra-processed are in concordance with the products included in the NOVA classification system.