Consumption of Food Offered by Delivery Applications (Apps)

Jamile Carvalho Tahim, Sara Maria Moreira Lima Verde, Carla Soraya Costa Maia and Ilana Nogueira Bezerra ()
Additional contact information
Jamile Carvalho Tahim: Postgraduate Program in Public Health, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Fortaleza 60714-903, Brazil
Sara Maria Moreira Lima Verde: Postgraduate Program in Nutrition and Health, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Fortaleza 60714-903, Brazil
Carla Soraya Costa Maia: Postgraduate Program in Nutrition and Health, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Fortaleza 60714-903, Brazil
Ilana Nogueira Bezerra: Postgraduate Program in Public Health, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Fortaleza 60714-903, Brazil

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate whether the use of food delivery applications is related to food consumption practices. Methods: Data collection was carried out between 5 and 20 June 2020 in a Brazilian capital with a final sample of 2113 individuals. The instrument included questions about socioeconomic characteristics, anthropometric data, and information about eating practices and the use of delivery apps. Logistic regression models were developed with the consumption of each food group as the outcome variable and the use of the application as the exposure variable. Results: Of those interviewed, 78.1% used delivery apps to purchase food. The frequencies of the consumption of foods considered markers of healthy eating were higher for individuals who did not use the applications (59.7% vs. 38.7% for the daily consumption of fresh fruit, respectively, p < 0.0001). The frequencies of the consumption of items considered markers of unhealthy eating were higher for individuals who used apps to purchase food prepared outside the home compared to those who did not (53.7 vs. 38.1 for weekly consumption of hamburgers, respectively, p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The use of delivery applications influenced the users’ eating practices through the acquisition of food within the digital scope and is related to a greater frequency of the consumption of unhealthy items by users.

Keywords: food consumption; digital food environment; food services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/5/568/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/5/568/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:5:p:568-:d:1385944

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().