Background Online Food Delivery Services (OFDS) have rapidly expanded in North America, but their implications for geographic access to food and potential dietary outcomes of their use are poorly understood. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which OFDS may geographically expand retail food environments. A secondary objective is to evaluate the healthfulness of foods available on mobile OFDS in a large Canadian city using the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015). Methods Retailers’ distance from delivery location was assessed on a large ODFS platform using 24 randomly selected urban postal codes in Ontario, Canada (n = 480 retailers). Distance to the first 10 and the last 10 listed retailers in each postal code was examined in relation to a) city population, b) city population density, and c) whether retailers appeared first or last. Second, to determine the healthfulness of food items available, menus of twelve retailers (n = 759 menu items) from four popular OFDS platforms available in Mississauga, Ontario, were coded using the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies-2015, and Food Patterns Equivalents Database-2015. Coded items were used to derive HEI-2015 scores. Results Delivery distances from the sample of postal codes in Ontario ranged from 0.3 km to 9.4 km (mean 3.7 km), and the total number of retailers available to each postal code ranged from 33 to 472. Substantial, positive correlations existed between total number of retailers available and both city population (r = 0.71), and population density (r = 0.51). HEI-2015 scores for retailers’ full menus were typically low, and ranged from 19.95 to 50.78 out of 100. Conclusions OFDS substantially increases geographic access to foods prepared away from home (by up to 9 km and 472 restaurants). Food offerings on OFDS applications do not meet healthy eating recommendations. Given the projected continued rapid expansion of OFDS, particularly in the midst of a global pandemic, surveillance and future research on OFDS and population dietary health is warranted.

Background Mental health disorders in youth are a global issue that have important implications for the future quality of life and morbidity of affected individuals. In the context of public health initiatives, smartphone-based interventions have been suggested to hold the potential to be an effective strategy to reduce the symptoms of mental health disorders in youth; however, further evaluation is needed to confirm their effectiveness. This systematic review and meta-analysis documents and synthesizes existing research on smartphone-based interventions targeting internalizing disorders in youth populations. Objective This study aims to synthesize existing research on smartphone-based interventions targeting internalizing disorders in youth populations. Methods PubMed and SCOPUS were searched in 2019, and 4334 potentially relevant articles were found. A total of 12 studies were included in the final synthesis. We used the Hedges g meta-analysis approach and a random effects model for analysis. Results The results of this review note that depression and anxiety are the most commonly targeted symptoms, and unlike other similar topics, most studies reviewed were linked to a proven treatment. The overall pooled effect from the meta-analysis showed small but significant effects (κ=12; N=1370; Hedges g=0.20; 95% CI 0.02-0.38) for interventions in reducing the symptoms of internalizing disorders. In total, 4 subgroup analyses examining specific symptoms and intervention styles found varied small significant and nonsignificant effects. Conclusions Future research should focus on developing robust evaluative frameworks and examining interventions among more diverse populations and settings. More robust research is needed before smartphone-based interventions are scaled up and used at the population level to address youth internalizing disorders.

BACKGROUND Youth mental health disorders are a global issue that have important implications for the future quality of life and morbidity of affected individuals. In the context of public health initiatives, smartphone-based interventions have been suggested to have the potential to be an effective strategy that reduces the symptoms of youth mental health disorders; however, further evaluation is needed to confirm their effectiveness. This systematic review and meta-analysis documents and synthesizes existing research on smartphone-based interventions targeting internalizing disorders in youth populations. OBJECTIVE To synthesize existing research on smartphone-based interventions targeting internalizing disorders in youth populations. METHODS PubMed and SCOPUS were searched in 2019, and 4,334 potentially relevant articles were found. A total of 12 studies were included in the final synthesis. Hunter and Schmidt’s “bare bones” approach for d-value meta-analyses and a random effects model were utilized RESULTS Important results of the review note that depression and anxiety are the overwhelmingly targeted symptoms, and, unlike other similar topics, the majority of studies reviewed were linked to a proven treatment. The overall pooled effect from the meta-analysis showed small but significant effects (k = 12, N = 1,360, d = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.06, 0.34) for smartphone interventions in reducing the symptoms of internalizing disorders. Four subgroup analyses examining specific symptoms and intervention styles found varied small but nonsignificant effects. CONCLUSIONS Future research should target developing robust evaluative frameworks and examining interventions among more diverse populations and settings. More robust research is needed before smartphone-based interventions are scaled up and used at the population level to address youth internalizing disorders.