Food delivery apps are most likely to be used by the working class, research has found.
A study of more than 1,500 households found that those in the lowest social grade were more than twice as likely to use apps such as Deliveroo and Just Eat as those in the highest.
Researchers analysed food and drink purchase records and a survey of 1,521 households in London and the North of England on their food and drink habits.
Those in the lowest social grade – semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers, casual workers and the unemployed – were found to be the most likely to use food delivery apps.
The research, published in BMJ Public Health, also found strong links between weight and use of food delivery apps – with obese people almost twice as likely to use them regularly.
The study was completed in 2019, ahead of an explosion in use of delivery apps during the pandemic.
Since then, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that “Deliveroo culture” could make Britain the fattest country in Europe.
The study, led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, found that overall, 13 per cent of households had used takeaway food delivery apps in the past week.
It also found that 16 per cent had bought groceries online.
The research showed that the most affluent were twice as likely as the least well off to do their grocery shopping online.
The research was conducted by Dr Alexandra Kalbus and Dr Laura Cornelsen, of the population health innovation lab at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Dr Kalbus said: “Those in the lowest social grade had more than double the odds of using these apps as those in the highest.”
More likely to be obese or overweight
Those who used food delivery apps were 84 per cent more likely to be living with obesity and 45 per cent more likely to be overweight than those who didn’t use them.
No link was found between weight and online grocery shopping.
The study was observational, and did not scrutinise the content of the food and meals ordered online or by app.
However, previously published research indicated that food delivery app use was associated with worse quality of diet, while online grocery shopping tended to be higher, researchers said.
Easier to make unhealthy food choices
Digital food delivery apps may also make it easier to make unhealthy food choices, they suggested, adding: “The differential use of online food delivery services may exacerbate dietary inequalities and warrants further research.”
The team accessed data from a large consumer panel previously used in a Transport for London study, which evaluated the impact of the removal of advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar on the transport network.
It analysed food and drink purchase records and a survey of 1,521 households in London and the North of England on the method of their daily food and drink purchases and their self-reported use of food delivery apps for prepared takeaway meals in February 2019.
Modern lifestyles cutting lives short
In 2022, WHO researchers said modern lifestyles were cutting lives short, with excess weight now responsible for 1.2 million deaths in Europe every year.
They said the growth of meal delivery apps, such as Deliveroo and Just Eat, during the pandemic was fuelling Britain’s record obesity rates, which would leave it topping the obesity league tables by 2033.
Latest figures show two in three adults in England are overweight or obese.
The use of fast-food delivery apps saw a significant increase after the pandemic took hold, with a doubling in UK orders from Deliveroo in the first six months of 2021.
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