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Changes in the frequency of food orders and food choices on meal delivery apps during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Brazilian metropolitan region

L. Botelho,D. Canella,Dayan Carvalho Ramos Salles de Carvalho,P. Horta,Maria Eduarda Ribeiro José,Leonardo Soares Bastos,Letícia de Oliveira Cardoso

Published 2025 in BMC Public Health

ABSTRACT

The rise of the digital food environment, especially through meal delivery apps, reshapes food consumption habits amid convenience- and pandemic-driven changes. We aimed to describe changes in both frequency of food purchase and food choices made in meal delivery apps during the COVID-19 pandemic. A web-based survey was conducted between May and September 2020 using virtual chain sampling with 986 adults residing in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The online questionnaire, developed in Google Forms, collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, self-rated health, diet quality, and the frequency of food ordering and food choices via meal delivery apps. Participants were categorized according to their usage frequency and changes in usage frequency during the pandemic. Post-stratification weighting was applied based on sex, age, and education level. Descriptive analyses were stratified by usage frequency categories. Pearson’s χ² test and McNemar’s test were used for statistical comparisons. 59.4% of meal delivery app users were female; 54.7% were aged under 44; 78.6% had a medium level of education. During the pandemic, there was an increase in the frequency of food purchases in meal delivery apps, more than half of the population was using meal delivery apps more frequently, and 15% of the occasional customers (less than once a week) turned into regular ones (once a week or more). The top three items ordered, before or during the pandemic, were fast food, soda, and handmade hamburgers or pizzas. The main items ordered by people who became occasional users were dishes based on animal protein and fast food. A significant proportion of them stopped ordering fast food (5%), soda (9%), international cuisine (9%), and traditional Brazilian meals (8%) during the pandemic. The main orders by people who became regular users were fast food and soda. Respectively, 17%, 13% and 10% of them started ordering traditional Brazilian meals, dishes based on animal protein and desserts. Such platforms were mainly used to buy meals based on ultra-processed foods at both moments, even among people who also used them to purchase healthy options.

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