Associations between area deprivation and changes in the digital food environment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal analysis of three online food delivery platforms

TY - JOUR

T1 - Associations between area deprivation and changes in the digital food environment during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal analysis of three online food delivery platforms

AU - Kalbus, Alexandra

AU - Ballatore, Andrea

AU - Cornelsen, Laura

AU - Greener, Robert

AU - Cummins, Steven

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the award of a Bloomsbury Colleges PhD Studentship; the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR) [Grant Reference Number PD-SPH-2015 ]; and an MRC Fellowship Grant [MR/P021999/1]. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

PY - 2023/3/1

Y1 - 2023/3/1

N2 - Online food delivery services facilitate access to unhealthy foods and have proliferated during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores associations between neighbourhood deprivation and exposure to online food delivery services and changes in exposure by deprivation during the first year of the pandemic. Data on food outlets delivering to 661 postcode districts in London and the North of England in 2020 and 2021 were collected from three online delivery platforms. The association between area deprivation and overall exposure to online food delivery services was moderated by region, with evidence of a positive relationship between count of outlets and deprivation in the North of England, and a negative relationship in London. There was no association between area deprivation and growth of online food delivery services. Associations between neighbourhood deprivation and exposure to the digital food environment vary geographically. Consequently, policies aimed at the digital food environment need to be tailored to the local context.

AB - Online food delivery services facilitate access to unhealthy foods and have proliferated during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores associations between neighbourhood deprivation and exposure to online food delivery services and changes in exposure by deprivation during the first year of the pandemic. Data on food outlets delivering to 661 postcode districts in London and the North of England in 2020 and 2021 were collected from three online delivery platforms. The association between area deprivation and overall exposure to online food delivery services was moderated by region, with evidence of a positive relationship between count of outlets and deprivation in the North of England, and a negative relationship in London. There was no association between area deprivation and growth of online food delivery services. Associations between neighbourhood deprivation and exposure to the digital food environment vary geographically. Consequently, policies aimed at the digital food environment need to be tailored to the local context.

KW - Digital food environment

KW - Area deprivation

KW - Online food delivery services

KW - Takeaway foods

KW - Covid-19

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147805847&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.102976

DO - 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.102976

M3 - Article

SN - 1353-8292

VL - 80

JO - Health & place

JF - Health & place

M1 - 102976

ER -