The Intersection of Tech & Nutrition: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Uber Eats, Auckland, NZ

Abstract

Background - The ‘digital food environment’ is quickly emerging and altering traditional food availability and consumption. Research into the digital food environment, including online food delivery (OFD) and digital food marketing and promotion, is limited due to its rapid evolution and proliferation. To date, little is known of its influence on dietary quality and nutrition status. This cross-sectional analysis is one arm of a multi-city study, which is the first to examine the nutrition quality of a market-leading (OFD) service (Uber Eats) in Auckland, New Zealand. Methodology - Using publicly available population-level data, Auckland was identified as a geographical area with an above-average (>30%) population of youth (15-34-years). Sixty-one percent of Auckland council suburbs have the Uber Eats service available (n = 186). A standardised protocol was used to collect data on the most popular food outlets, and most popular menu items, for each identified suburb. Each outlet identified (n = 394) was categorised as unhealthy, less healthy or healthy using the Food Environment Scoring (FES) tool (range; - 10 ‘unhealthiest’ to 10 ‘healthiest’). Each menu item identified (n = 2421) was classified as either discretionary or core using the ABS Discretionary Food List of 2014. Data on geographical distances between food outlets and suburbs, and levels of deprivation was collected to ascertain associations between socio-economic status and service offerings and usage. Results - Almost three-quarters of food outlets assessed (73.6%) were classified as unhealthy, with less than 5% (4.3%) of outlets classified as healthy, using the FES. The majority of menu items (88.2%) evaluated were classed as discretionary foods. Significant associations were observed between the healthiness of food outlets (using the FES) and deprivation levels of food outlet locations (p = <0.0277). No significant differences were observed between the number of discretionary foods available and deprivation level (p = 0.0748). Conclusion - This study found that most of the popular outlets on Uber Eats are unhealthy, with the majority of popular menu items being discretionary. More research is required to further explore the nutrition consequences of the service, including direct links to increases in discretionary food consumption and, consequentially, rates of non-communicable disease (NCD).