Frequent Food Delivery App Users Linked To Higher Obesity Rates ‌

A person taking out food out of the bag. Research found that low income people were twice as likely to vote through the food delivery apps than high income people. (MIKHAILL NILOV/PEXELS)

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Online food delivery app users are more likely to be obese, according to a new study published in the journal BMJ Public Health.

Researchers also found that less affluent families are twice as likely to order takeaway food.

But the well-off are twice as likely to shop online for groceries as their less affluent neighbors, according to the findings.

The analysis of consumer research suggests that social position – defined by household income and job role – is linked to food delivery preferences in England.

The research was conducted by Dr. Alexandra Kalbus and Dr. Laura Cornelsen, of the Population Health Innovation Lab at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

“Affluent households are twice as likely as less well-off ones to shop online for groceries while households in lower social grades are up to twice as likely to use food delivery apps for takeaway meals,” said Dr. Kalbus in regards to the differences in grocery shoppers and app users.

Previous research suggested that while buying groceries online is associated with healthier food choices, the use of online takeaway food delivery apps is less so.

The researchers set out to explore the impact of the ongoing changes to food shopping trends.

They wanted to look, in particular, at the extent to which the use of online food delivery services might be informed by indicators of social position, and whether using online delivery apps is associated with healthy or unhealthy weight.

The team accessed data from a large consumer panel previously used in the Transport for London Study, which evaluated the impact of the removal of high-fat, salt, and sugar foods advertising on the Transport for London (TfL) network.

They analyzed food and drink purchase records and a survey of 1,521 households in London and the north of England on the method of their daily food and drink purchases and their self-reported use of food delivery apps for prepared takeaway meals in February 2019.

Social position was characterized as both household income and the social grade of the household main food shopper’s job role, and classified as high, middle-high, middle-low and low.

Self-reported annual household income was from, £19,999 or more.

Data on weight were available for 1,245 households, and classified as combined underweight and healthy weight (BMI below 25); overweight )25 to 29.9); and obese (30+).

Analysis of the purchase records showed that in February 2019, nearly 16% of households bought groceries online at least once.

Survey responses showed that 13% had used takeaway food delivery apps in the past seven days, and 3.5% said they had used both services.

After accounting for potentially influential household factors, such as age and composition of the residents, households with the highest incomes were twice as likely to buy groceries online as those with the lowest income.

However, there was no association with social grade, according to the findings.

While the use of food delivery apps wasn’t associated with income, the researchers found that it was associated with social grade after accounting for potentially influential factors such as age, sex, and educational attainment.

“Those in the lowest social grade had more than double the odds of using these apps as those in the highest,” said Dr. Kalbus. “Those in the middle-low social grade had 69% greater odds of doing so.”

The research team pointed out that it was an observational study, so no firm conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn.

Although the team didn’t scrutinize the content of the food and meals ordered online or by app, previously published research indicates that food delivery app use is associated with lower dietary quality while online grocery shopping tends to be of higher dietary quality than in-store shopping.

“In the grocery sector, it has been hypothesized that a shift to online grocery shopping will occur more rapidly among affluent households, and it is possible that we observed evidence for this,” said Dr. Kalbus.

Digital food delivery apps may also make it easier to make unhealthy food choices, according to the researchers.

App users ordering food was frequent during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown that allowed customers to order from fast food places and restaurants.

“The differential use of online food delivery services may exacerbate dietary inequalities and warrants further research,” said Dr. Cornelsen.

Produced in association with SWNS Talker