Abstract

Introduction: Overnutrition is highly prevalent in Chile and is associated with food environments that promote unhealthy dietary patterns. The home food environment plays a key role in shaping eating habits and nutritional status, yet it remains underexplored in the region. Objective: To examine the perceived obesogenicity of the home food environment and its association with body image perception among adults living in urban neighborhoods of different socioeconomic status (SES) in Greater Santiago, Chile. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in two neighborhoods of Greater Santiago, one low-SES and one high-SES. The Chilean version of the Perceived Nutrition Environment Survey was administered to 784 participants. Scores for perceived obesogenicity of the home environment were calculated and categorized into quintiles. Body image perception was assessed using the Thompson and Gray silhouette scale as the outcome variable. Associations were estimated using logistic regression models. Results: Higher levels of perceived obesogenicity of the home environment were concentrated among participants from the low-SES neighborhood. In the overall sample, individuals in the least obesogenic quintile had a 46 degrees%o lower likelihood of perceiving a body image associated with excess weight. This association was statistically significant in the high-SES neighborhood. Conclusions: Neighborhood socioeconomic context suggests the presence of inequities that extend into the household, shaping the home food environment and conditioning opportunities to adopt healthy dietary patterns in Chile.