Availability of food stores around Brazilian schools

The aim of this study was to analyze the availability of food stores in the territory of schools. Ecological study conducted in Vi??osa, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with all schools (N=42) and food stores (N=656). Data were collected through the objective evaluation of the environ-ment, and the stores were categorized into healthy, unhealthy, mixed and supermarkets. Bivariate Ripley??s K function assessed the existence of clus-tering of categories of stores in the territory of schools. All the schools had at least one food store in their territory. Unhealthy stores were the most common and closest to the schools. There were more stores around private schools, offering high school education, located in the central region and in the highest per capita income tercile. The bivariate Ripley??s K function showed evidence of clustering of stores at all analyzed distances (400 to 1.5 km) with up to 3 times more establishments than would be expected if they were randomly dis-tributed. Therefore, schoolchildren were likely ex-posed to unhealthy food environments, regardless of neighborhood income and location, which may contribute to inadequate food choices.