Food environment in Brazil: food deserts and food swamps in large urban cities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/s1518-8787.2026060007379Keywords:
Food Environment, Public Policy, Food Security, Public HealthAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the availability of healthy and unhealthy food establishments in Brazil and, thereby, map food deserts and food swamps. To analyze maps of food deserts and food swamps in conjunction with indicators of social inequality. METHODS: Data from the Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (RAIS, 2022), integrated with consumption profiles from the Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF, 2017–2018), were used to classify establishments according to the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population. At the municipal level, the density of establishments with healthy and unhealthy profiles was estimated for Brazilian municipalities. At the intramunicipal level, food deserts and food swamps were identified in urban municipalities with more than 300,000 inhabitants, by cross-referencing the results with income indicators from the Cadastro Único. RESULTS: At the municipal level, it was observed that the North and Northeast regions concentrate most municipalities with low densities of healthy establishments, while the South and Southeast have higher densities of unhealthy establishments. At the intramunicipal level, approximately 25 million people reside in food deserts, corresponding to 32.3% of the population of the 91 municipalities analyzed, and approximately 15 million live in food swamps (19% of the population). Among individuals in the Cadastro Único with a per capita income below half the minimum wage, 38% live in food deserts and 10% in food swamps. CONCLUSION: The results highlight the overlap between socioeconomic vulnerability and adverse food environments, reinforcing the urgency of public policies aimed at regulating the food environment, strengthening public food supply infrastructure, and promoting territorial equity in access to healthy foods.
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Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Grant numbers 13/07616-7;2023/10243-0
