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Use of Online Food Delivery Services to Order Food Prepared Away-From-Home and Associated Sociodemographic Characteristics: A Cross-Sectional, Multi-Country Analysis

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Vanderlee, Lana 
White, Christine M. 

Abstract

Online food delivery services like Just Eat and Grubhub facilitate online ordering and home delivery of food prepared away-from-home. It is poorly understood how these services are used and by whom. This study investigated the prevalence of online food delivery service use and sociodemographic characteristics of customers, in and across Australia, Canada, Mexico, the UK, and the USA. We analyzed online survey data (n = 19,378) from the International Food Policy Study, conducted in 2018. We identified respondents who reported any online food delivery service use in the past 7 days and calculated the frequency of use and number of meals ordered. We investigated whether odds of any online food delivery service use in the past 7 days differed by sociodemographic characteristics using adjusted logistic regression. Overall, 15% of respondents (n = 2929) reported online food delivery service use, with the greatest prevalence amongst respondents in Mexico (n = 839 (26%)). Online food delivery services had most frequently been used once and the median number of meals purchased through this mode of order was two. Odds of any online food delivery service use were lower per additional year of age (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.94, 0.95) and greater for respondents who were male (OR: 1.50; 95% CI: 1.35, 1.66), that identified with an ethnic minority (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.38, 1.78), were highly educated (OR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.46, 1.90), or living with children (OR: 2.71; 95% CI: 2.44, 3.01). Further research is required to explore how online food delivery services may influence diet and health.

Description

Keywords

fast food, food accessibility, food delivery, food environment, online food delivery services, out-of-home food, public health, takeaway food

Journal Title

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1660-4601

Volume Title

17

Publisher

MDPI
Sponsorship
National Heart Foundation of Australia (102035)
British Heart Foundation (ES/G007462/1)
Public Health Agency of Canada (Applied Public Health Research Chair,)
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Operating grant)
Cancer Research UK (ES/G007462/1)
Economic and Social Research Council (ES/G007462/1)
Medical Research Council (ES/G007462/1)
National Institute for Health Research (ES/G007462/1)
Wellcome Trust (087636/Z/08/Z)
School for Public Health Research (PD-SPH-2015-10025)