Poster Presentation Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society Annual Scientific Conference 2024

The cost of a combo: a systematic review examining the nature and extent of unhealthy food promotion within meal delivery apps (#259)

Jessica Morrison 1 2 , Joanne Dono 2 3 , Simone Pettigrew 4 , Caroline Miller 1 2
  1. The University of Adelaide, School of Public Health, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  2. Health Policy Centre, South Australian Health & Medical Research Institue (SAHMRI), North Tce, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  3. The University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  4. Food and Policy, The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Background: Meal delivery apps (MDAs) increase consumer accessibility to unhealthy foods, contributing to an obesogenic environment. Proprietary algorithms are used in MDAs to develop curated promotional strategies, designed to influence consumer choice. MDAs are novel and are exempt from existing nutritional policies in the out-of-home food sector, such as the requirement for kilojoules to be displayed on menus. This systematic review aimed to determine whether promotion within MDAs is more likely to be found on unhealthy foods.

Methods: A systematic search for studies from 2010 onwards was conducted in three electronic academic databases and grey literature. Studies were included if they assessed MDA promotions using an objective measure of nutritional quality.

Findings: The search returned 1,076 articles, of which 8 articles from 4 countries met the inclusion criteria. Seven were cross-sectional and one was longitudinal. Two studies assessed the overall nutritional quality of outlets, six assessed the nutritional quality of individual menu items and one assessed the presence (or absence) of food categories of varying nutritional quality within food outlets.

All studies assessed the nutritional quality of items or outlets promoted on the home page of MDAs and found that unhealthy foods featured more prominently than healthy foods. The studies were generally consistent in showing that the use of promotional strategies including images, value bundles and special promotions was greater for unhealthy than healthy items and outlets.

Conclusion: This review shows that unhealthy foods are consistently promoted more than healthy foods within MDAs across multiple countries. However, the extent of use of specific types of promotion within MDAs could not be determined from the available data. Further research is needed to comprehensively investigate the prevalence of different types of promotion within MDAs and the effects on consumers’ choices. This knowledge will help to develop policy interventions that support healthier choices.