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. Articles were included if they reported instruments that measured the availability or type of healthy and unhealthy foods and beverages by informal food outlets, were written in English or Spanish, and published between January 1, 2010, and July 31, 2020. Two trained researchers reviewed the title, abstract and full text of selected articles; discrepancies were solved by two independent researchers. In addition, the list of references for selected articles was reviewed for any additional articles of relevance. The quality of published articles and documents was evaluated using JBI Critical appraisal checklist for analytical cross-sectional studies. RESULTS: We identified 1078 articles of which 14 were included after applying the selection criteria. Three additional articles were considered after reviewing the references from the selected articles. From the final 17 articles, 13 measurement tools were identified. Most of the instruments were used in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Products were classified as healthy/unhealthy or produce/non-produce or processed/unprocessed based on availability and type. Six studies reported psychometric tests, whereas one was tested within the informal food sector. CONCLUSIONS: Few instruments can measure the healthfulness of food and beverages sold in informal food outlets, of which the most valid and reliable have been used to measure formal food outlets as well. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an instrument that manages to measure, specifically, the elements available within an informal one. These actions are extremely important to better understand the food environment that is a central contributor to poor diets that are increasingly associated with the obesity and Non-communicable disease (NCD) pandemic.

Revisión rápida: evidencia de transmisión por Covid-19 e infecciones respiratorias agudas similares en espacios públicos abiertos.

 Objetivo. Describir la evidencia disponible sobre la trans-misión por Covid-19 e infecciones respiratorias agudas simi-lares al Covid-19 en espacios públicos abiertos. Material y métodos. La búsqueda incluyó 4 926 artículos en inglés de los años 2000 a 2020. Seis investigadores revisaron el título y el resumen de los artículos de Embase y PubMed; dos inves-tigadores revisaron los de medRxiv. Todos los investigadores revisaron textos completos y otros resolvieron las discre-pancias. Resultados. De los 21 artículos seleccionados, se observó que la presencia de virus en superficies públicas, aguas residuales y áreas exteriores no fue indicativa de trans-misión. No obstante, se observó que el uso de cubrebocas, el lavado de manos, el distanciamiento social, no asistir a eventos masivos y la movilidad individual a espacios públicos podría ayudar a reducir el riesgo de transmisión. Conclusión. Esta información podría coadyuvar a generar recomendaciones en salud pública, sin embargo, es recomendable actualizar esta revisión conforme avance la evidencia científica.

Revisión rápida: evidencia de transmisión por Covid-19 e infecciones respiratorias agudas similares en espacios públicos abiertos / Rapid review: evidence of Covid-19 transmission and similar acute respiratory infections in open public spaces

Resumen: Objetivo: Describir la evidencia disponible sobre la transmisión por Covid-19 e infecciones respiratorias agudas similares al Covid-19 en espacios públicos abiertos. Material y métodos: La búsqueda incluyó 4 926 artículos en inglés de los años 2000 a 2020. Seis investigadores revisaron el título y el resumen de los artículos de Embase y PubMed; dos investigadores revisaron los de medRxiv. Todos los investigadores revisaron textos completos y otros resolvieron las discrepancias. Resultados: De los 21 artículos seleccionados, se observó que la presencia de virus en superficies públicas, aguas residuales y áreas exteriores no fue indicativa de transmisión. No obstante, se observó que el uso de cubrebocas, el lavado de manos, el distanciamiento social, no asistir a eventos masivos y la movilidad individual a espacios públicos podría ayudar a reducir el riesgo de transmisión. Conclusión: Esta información podría coadyuvar a generar recomendaciones en salud pública, sin embargo, es recomendable actualizar esta revisión conforme avance la evidencia científica.

Abstract: Objective: To describe the available evidence on the transmission of Covid-19 or similar acute respiratory infections in open, public spaces. Materials and methods: Our search included 4 926 articles in English from 2000 to 2020. Six researchers reviewed the title and abstracts from Embase and PubMed databases, and two researchers reviewed medRxiv database. All reviewed full texts and others resolved the discrepancies. Results: A total of 21 articles were selected. The presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on public surfaces, sewage, and outdoor areas was not indicative of transmission. Nevertheless, we observed that applying preventive measures such as the use of face masks, hand washing, social distancing, restricting attendance to massive events, and reducing people's mobility to public spaces may reduce the risk of transmission. Conclusions: This information could help to generate public health recommendations. However, we advise updating this review as new evidence is generated.