ABSTRACT
Aim:
Online
food delivery services (OFDS) are popular for purchasing
meals prepared outside home, increasing access to energy-dense and
nutrient-poor
foods. This adversely impacts dietary choices and
health outcomes. Our study examined
trends in OFDS use in
Australia,
Canada,
Mexico, the
United Kingdom (UK), and the
United States (US) from 2018 to 2021.
Methods:
Repeated annual cross-sectional data was sourced from the International
Food Policy Study for five countries among
adults over 18 years (N = 83,337). Weighted estimates for
trends in i) the proportion of the
respondent's purchasing
meals per week using OFDS, and ii) average number (and standard deviation (SD)) of
meals purchased per week using OFDS were assessed.
Logistic regression models were fitted.
Findings:
OFDS use increased among
adults between 2018-2021 (
Australia 17 % of
respondents purchased at least one
meal in the last 7 days using OFDS in 2018 to 25 % in 2021,
Canada 12 % to 19 %,
Mexico 28 % to 38 %, UK 19 % to 28 %, and US 17 % to 21 %). Average number of
meals purchased per week outside home remained consistent for all countries over
time (e.g., in
Australia, 2.70 (SD 0.06)
meals in 2018 and 2.63 (SD 0.06) in 2021). However, average number of
meals purchased using OFDS nearly doubled between 2018 and 2021 (e.g., in
Australia, 0.45 (SD 0.03)
meals in 2018 to 0.81 (SD 0.04) in 2021).
Conclusion:
OFDS use is increasing and are substituting the conventional forms of purchasing
meals outside home.
Nutritional quality of
foods sold,
marketing practices and purchasing patterns on OFDS deserve further
attention.
