Food Delivery Apps and the Negative Health Impacts for Americans

Stephens, Janna; Miller, Hailey; Militello, Lisa

doi:10.3389/fnut.2020.00014

Cited by 61 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…This demonstrates that OFD’s are disrupting traditional food environments by increasing the reach and accessibility of food outlets. Moreover, using OFD’s may further promote sedentary lifestyle behaviors [ 24 ]. The impacts OFD’s have on population dietary intake remains an outstanding and crucial question.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rapidly escalating demands for the convenience of OFD’s have driven research in the consumer service-related fields [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ], yet there has been a paucity of research evaluating the public health implications of online food delivery services [ 24 ]. A recent cross-sectional study examined the prevalence and frequency of using OFD’s in five countries in 2018.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Junk Food on Demand: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Nutritional Quality of Popular Online Food Delivery Outlets in Australia and New Zealand

et al. 2020

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The demand for convenience and the increasing role of digital technology in everyday life has fueled the use of online food delivery services (OFD’s), of which young people are the largest users globally. OFD’s are disrupting traditional food environments, yet research evaluating the public health implications of such services is lacking. We evaluated the characteristics and nutritional quality of popular food outlets on a market-leading platform (UberEATS®) in a cross-sectional observational study conducted in two international cities: Sydney (Australia) and Auckland (New Zealand). A systematic search using publicly available population-level data was used to identify geographical areas with above-average concentrations (>30%) of young people (15–34-years). A standardized data extraction protocol was used to identify the ten most popular food outlets within each area. The nutritional quality of food outlets was assessed using the Food Environment Score (FES) (range: −10 ‘unhealthiest’ to 10 ‘healthiest’). Additionally, the most popular menu items from each food outlet were classified as discretionary or core foods/beverages according to the Australian Dietary Guidelines. The majority of popular food outlets were classified as ‘unhealthy’ (FES range −10 to −5; 73.5%, 789/1074) and were predominately takeaway franchise stores (59.6%, 470/789, e.g., McDonald’s®). 85.9% of all popular menu items were discretionary (n = 4958/5769). This study highlights the pervasion and accessibility of discretionary foods on OFD’s. This study demonstrated that the most popular food outlets on the market-leading online food delivery service are unhealthy and popular menu items are mostly discretionary foods; facilitating the purchase of foods of poor nutritional quality. Consideration of OFD’s in public health nutrition strategies and policies in critical.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Junk Food on Demand: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Nutritional Quality of Popular Online Food Delivery Outlets in Australia and New Zealand

et al. 2020

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“…In addition, by making the obtainment of food effortless, requiring only a few touches on a keyboard to have food delivered to the doorstep, online FD could potentially be promoting a sedentary lifestyle which is harmful to health. Researchers have expressed their concerns that food delivery apps could have negative health impacts for Americans [63]. Further, a study of 1220 university students in Beijing, China, found that a high frequency of online delivery food consumption was associated with a non-medical major, a preference for high fat and high sugar foods, physical inactivity and not surprisingly a high BMI, with 11.6% of the students surveyed being overweight or obese [64].…”

Section: Social Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Online Food Delivery Platforms and their Impacts on Sustainability

2020

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During the global 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, the advantages of online food delivery (FD) were obvious, as it facilitated consumer access to prepared meals and enabled food providers to keep operating. However, online FD is not without its critics, with reports of consumer and restaurant boycotts. It is, therefore, time to take stock and consider the broader impacts of online FD, and what they mean for the stakeholders involved. Using the three pillars of sustainability as a lens through which to consider the impacts, this review presents the most up-to-date research in this field, revealing a raft of positive and negative impacts. From an economic standpoint, while online FD provides job and sale opportunities, it has been criticized for the high commission it charges restaurants and questionable working conditions for delivery people. From a social perspective, online FD affects the relationship between consumers and their food, as well as influencing public health outcomes and traffic systems. Environmental impacts include the significant generation of waste and its high carbon footprints. Moving forward, stakeholders must consider how best to mitigate the negative and promote the positive impacts of online FD to ensure that it is sustainable in every sense.

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“…According to Todd et al [23] consumers have strong preferences for less healthy food when dining away from home. In turn, Stephens et al [24] draw attention to the adverse health effects of the widespread use of food delivery apps, resulting from the specific selection of dishes offered through these applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It should also be noted that year after year, foodservice enterprises are becoming an increasingly important element of the food system. Striving to achieve the objectives of sustainable development, we cannot therefore marginalize their impact on the manner and quality of the nutrition of people using (also in the form of e-services) foodservice offerings [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Consumers in the Foodservices Market

et al. 2021

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The dynamic development of e-commerce in the foodservice market has been observed in recent years (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic), both in Poland and in other countries. The purpose of the study was to determine the characteristics of e-foodservice customers, identify their motivations for ordering food online and the nutritional consequences of such actions, as well as recognize the influence of consumers’ s-commerce activity on their foodservice market behavior. The study was carried out using the CAWI method on a sample of 1018 adult Poles. With the use of cluster analysis, three consumer segments were distinguished: frequent e-commerce users (221), moderate users (400), and sporadic users (397). The results indicate that frequent users of e-commerce in the foodservice market are slightly more often young and educated men who work full-time, have a higher than average income, and live in a large or medium city. In their own opinions, frequent users are the most concerned about proper nutrition, but despite such declarations, their nutritional quality is inferior to other groups. Compared to other segments, they are the most socially active and show the greatest commitment to s-commerce activity, which influences their purchasing intentions and behaviors.

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Food Delivery Apps and the Negative Health Impacts for Americans

Cited by 61 publications

References 3 publications

Junk Food on Demand: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Nutritional Quality of Popular Online Food Delivery Outlets in Australia and New Zealand

Junk Food on Demand: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Nutritional Quality of Popular Online Food Delivery Outlets in Australia and New Zealand

Review of Online Food Delivery Platforms and their Impacts on Sustainability

Digital Consumers in the Foodservices Market

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