Associations between online food outlet access and online food delivery service use amongst adults in the UK: a cross-sectional analysis of linked data

BMC Public Health

Thomas Burgoine¹  Matthew Keeble¹  Jean Adams¹  David Hammond²  Lana Vanderlee³ 

[1] MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Box 285 Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, CB2 0QQ, Cambridge, UK;School of Public Health and Health Systems, Faculty of Health, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada;École de Nutrition, Université Laval, Pavillon des Services, bureau 2729-E, 2440 boul. Hochelaga, G1V 0A6, Quebec City, QC, Canada;

关键词: Diet;    Food delivery;    Food environment;    Fast foods;    Obesity;    Online food delivery services;    Public health;    Takeaway foods;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-021-11953-9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundOnline food delivery services facilitate ‘online’ access to food outlets that typically sell lenergy-dense nutrient-poor food. Greater online food outlet access might be related to the use of this purchasing format and living with excess bodyweight, however, this is not known. We aimed to investigate the association between aspects of online food outlet access and online food delivery service use, and differences according to customer sociodemographic characteristics, as well as the association between the number of food outlets accessible online and bodyweight.MethodsIn 2019, we used an automated data collection method to collect data on all food outlets in the UK registered with the leading online food delivery service Just Eat (n = 33,204). We linked this with contemporaneous data on food purchasing, bodyweight, and sociodemographic information collected through the International Food Policy Study (analytic sample n = 3067). We used adjusted binomial logistic, linear, and multinomial logistic regression models to examine associations.ResultsAdults in the UK had online access to a median of 85 food outlets (IQR: 34–181) and 85 unique types of cuisine (IQR: 64–108), and 15.1% reported online food delivery service use in the previous week. Those with the greatest number of accessible food outlets (quarter four, 182–879) had 71% greater odds of online food delivery service use (OR: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.68) compared to those with the least (quarter one, 0–34). This pattern was evident amongst adults with a university degree (OR: 2.11; 95% CI: 1.15, 3.85), adults aged between 18 and 29 years (OR: 3.27, 95% CI: 1.59, 6.72), those living with children (OR: 1.94; 95% CI: 1.01; 3.75), and females at each level of increased exposure. We found no association between the number of unique types of cuisine accessible online and online food delivery service use, or between the number of food outlets accessible online and bodyweight.ConclusionsThe number of food outlets accessible online is positively associated with online food delivery service use. Adults with the highest education, younger adults, those living with children, and females, were particularly susceptible to the greatest online food outlet access. Further research is required to investigate the possible health implications of online food delivery service use.

【 授权许可】

CC BY