Addressing Infant and Young Child Feeding Recommendations From a Planetary Health Perspective.

Current international infant and young child (IYC) feeding recommendations consider nutrition and health but not environmental impacts. Only a handful of countries have dietary guidelines that provide quantitative recommendations for food groups of environmental concern. This study aimed to perform a narrative review of the environmental impacts of commercial milk formula compared with breastfeeding and to analyze the degree to which current country-specific IYC feeding recommendations are aligned with sustainable dietary targets.

Mexican national dietary guidelines promote less costly and environmentally sustainable diets.

The 2023 Mexican Healthy and Sustainable Dietary Guidelines (HSDG 2023) were developed to include all dimensions of sustainability. Here we compare the environmental impact and cost of diets based on the HSDG 2023, current diets and the Mexican-adapted EAT healthy reference diet. Diets following HSDG 2023 are 21% less expensive, require 30% less land to be produced and have 34% less carbon emissions than current diets-particularly in Mexico City and other urban areas with higher prevalence of Westernized diets.

How Could Taxes on Sugary Drinks and Foods Help Reduce the Burden Of Type 2 Diabetes?

Purpose Of Review: Taxes on sugary drinks and foods have emerged as a key strategy to counteract the alarming levels of diabetes worldwide. Added sugar consumption from industrialized foods and beverages has been strongly linked to type 2 diabetes. This review provides a synthesis of evidence on how taxes on sugary products can influence the onset of type 2 diabetes, describing the importance of the different mechanisms through which the consumption of these products is reduced, leading to changes in weight and potentially a decrease in the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

Comparison of Dietary Intake Before vs After Taxes on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Nonessential Energy-Dense Foods in Mexico, 2012 to 2018.

Importance: Tax evaluations have shown effectiveness in reducing purchases of taxed items. However, few studies have looked at changes in overall dietary intake according to national surveys.

Objective: To estimate the contribution of taxed and untaxed beverages and foods to dietary intake over time, and the nutritional dietary profile in total beverages and foods consumed.

Digital food and beverage marketing appealing to children and adolescents: An emerging challenge in Mexico.

Background: Digital food marketing is increasing and has an impact on children's behaviour. Limited research has been performed in Latin America.

Objectives: To determine the extent and nature of Mexican children's and adolescents' exposure to digital food and beverage marketing during recreational internet use.

Bicycle use in Latin American cities: changes over time by socio-economic position.

Introduction: We aimed to examine utilitarian bicycle use among adults from 18 large Latin American cities and its association with socio-economic position (education and income) between 2008 and 2018.

Methods: Data came from yearly cross-sectional surveys collected by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF). A total of 77,765 survey respondents with complete data were used to estimate multilevel logistic regression models with city as random intercept and year as random slope.

Digital marketing of commercial breastmilk substitutes and baby foods: strategies, and recommendations for its regulation in Mexico.

Background: Parents are exposed to breastmilk substitutes and baby foods marketing on the internet and social media, which hinders adequate breastfeeding and complementary feeding. This study identifies digital marketing strategies for breastmilk substitutes, specifically commercial milk formula and baby foods used by the industry to influence infant and young children's feeding practices in Mexico and proposes regulatory recommendations that can be useful for similar countries.

Methods: Qualitative study based on the CLICK monitoring framework developed by the World Health Organization, adapted for digital marketing of commercial milk formula and baby foods.

When Moving Is the Only Option: The Role of Necessity Versus Choice for Understanding and Promoting Physical Activity in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Given its origins in high-income countries, the field of physical activity and public health research and promotion has broadly followed a choice-based model. However, a substantial amount of the physical activity occurring routinely in many settings, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is the result of economic necessity and is not due to true, free choices. We propose the "necessity- versus choice-based physical activity models" framework as a conceptual tool to ground physical activity and public health research and promotion efforts in LMICs, helping ensurethat these efforts are relevant, ethical, responsive, and respectful to local contexts.

Digital marketing of formula and baby food negatively influences breast feeding and complementary feeding: a cross-sectional study and video recording of parental exposure in Mexico.

Background: There is little evidence of the association between digital marketing of formula and baby food and infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices.

Objective: Assess parents' exposure to digital marketing of formula and baby food for children <2 years and its association with the purchase and IYCF practices in Mexico.

Methods: Parents ≥18 years recruited from a market research panel completed an online survey (n=1074) and capture-on-screen (n=95) between December 2020 and January 2021.

Awareness, use and understanding of nutrition labels among adults from five countries: Findings from the 2018-2020 International Food Policy Study.

Few studies have compared the effects of different front-of-package label (FOPL) systems in the 'real world'. This study assessed adults' awareness, use and understanding of nutrition facts labels (NFLs) and nationally implemented FOPLs such as Health Star Ratings (HSR), Traffic lights, and Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) in five countries, including before and after implementation of Mexico's warning FOPLs in 2020. Data were from the International Food Policy Study, an annual repeat cross-sectional study conducted in 2018-2020 among adults (N=64,032) in Australia, Canada, Mexico, the UK and the US.

Association between density of convenience and small grocery stores with diet quality in adults living in Mexico City: A cross sectional study.

There is evidence of the association between different retail stores and food consumption, yet research is still limited in low- and medium-income countries, where the context of the food retail environment is different from that observed in high-income countries. Specifically, less is known about how convenience and small grocery stores, which offer products with immediate access, are associated with the diet as a whole. The present study assessed the association between density of convenience and small grocery stores and diet quality in adults from the Mexico City Representative Diabetes Survey 2015.

Systematic literature review of instruments that measure the healthfulness of food and beverages sold in informal food outlets.

Background: Informal food outlets, defined as vendors who rarely have access to water and toilets, much less shelter and electricity, are a common component of the food environment, particularly in many non-Western countries. The purpose of this study was to review available instruments that measure the quality and particularly the healthfulness of food and beverages sold within informal food outlets.

Methods: PubMed, LILACS, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were used.

Understanding of front of package nutrition labels: Guideline daily amount and warning labels in Mexicans with non-communicable diseases.

One strategy for the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is the implementation of the front-of-pack labeling (FoPL) in foods and beverages. In 2020, Mexico adopted the warning label system (WL) as a new public health policy, whose aim is to help consumers make healthier food choices. Previously, the Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) was the labelling used it.

Adolescents' media usage and self-reported exposure to advertising across six countries: implications for less healthy food and beverage marketing.

Objectives: The study objectives were to examine: (1) adolescents' media viewing habits, (2) associations with media viewing and self-reported exposure to unhealthy food and beverage advertising and (3) differences in trends among younger and older adolescents in six high and upper middle-income countries.

Design: Repeat cross-sectional online survey.

Setting: Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA).

Changes in Sugar Sweetened Beverage Intake Are Associated with Changes in Body Composition in Mexican Adolescents: Findings from the ELEMENT Cohort.

Changes in consumption of sugar sweetened beverage (SSBs) have been associated with increased body mass index (BMI), but little work has evaluated the effect on waist circumference (WC) and body fat percentage during adolescence, a period characterized by rapid growth and change in dietary behaviors. We examined the relationship of changes in SSB intake and changes in adiposity over two years in 464 Mexican adolescents. Food frequency questionnaires were used to sum intake of regular soda, coffee with sugar, tea with sugar, sweetened water with fruit, chocolate milk, corn atole, and a sweetened probiotic milk beverage.

Comprehensive evaluation of Salud Escolar a health school program in Mexico: Rationale, design and methods.

The prevalence of obesity and overweight in Mexican children and adolescents is high (greater than 30%) and lifestyle behaviors are far from achieving health recommendations. Salud Escolar is a complex cross-sectoral multi-level policy-based program in Mexico aiming to support schoolchildren healthy behaviors. We describe the rationale, design and methods for the comprehensive evaluation of Salud Escolar during its first phase of implementation.

Delaying sexual onset: outcome of a comprehensive sexuality education initiative for adolescents in public schools.

Background: A common risk behavior in adolescence is the early initiation of unprotected sex that exposes adolescents to an unplanned pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections. Schools are an ideal place to strengthen adolescents' sexual knowledge and modify their behavior, guiding them to exercise responsible sexuality. The purpose of this article was to evaluate the knowledge of public secondary school teachers who received training in comprehensive education in sexuality (CES) and estimate the counseling's effect on students' sexual behavior.

Physical inactivity and sitting time prevalence and trends in Mexican adults. Results from three national surveys.

Background: Physical inactivity and high sitting time are directly related to mortality and morbidity of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Thus, improved understanding of the prevalence and trends of these behaviors could support the design of policies and interventions for NCDs prevention.

Objective: To determine the current prevalence of physical inactivity and high sitting time, to analyze the trends, and to estimate the association of meeting/not meeting physical activity recommendations and low/high sitting time with sociodemographic characteristics and body mass index categories.

Evaluation of the Accurateness of the Nutritional Labels of Processed and Ultra-Processed Products Available in Supermarkets of Ecuador.

Nutrition labeling is a public health tool that allows consumers to choose healthier foods and beverages. For this reason, there are protocols in place to monitor the food environment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the consistency of nutrition labeling on packages for processed and ultra-processed products (UPPs) found at the main supermarkets in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Evaluating the effect of the initiative 'Caring for the Newborn and the Mother at Home' in Mexico.

Objective: The WHO and UNICEF recommend home visits to improve health outcomes for mothers and newborns. We evaluated the effect of home visits by community volunteers during pregnancy and postpartum on breast-feeding practices, women's knowledge about benefits, beliefs and myths of breast-feeding, obstetric and neonatal warning signs, preparation for childbirth and initial care for newborns, and diarrhoea and respiratory diseases in children.

Design: Community quasi-experimental design.

Use of advertising strategies to target children in sugar-sweetened beverages packaging in Mexico and the nutritional quality of those beverages.

Background: A product package can be a powerful marketing tool to persuade and attract consumers at the point-of-sale. Evidence shows that most advertised products have low nutritional quality. Currently, Mexico has incorporated advertising regulations on food and beverage packaging.