Ordering home ready meals via apps seems to be significantly more common in households where the person doing the shopping is obese, according to a British study.
The results point the light to the fact that new consumption patterns can reveal the health gaps in society.
– It can be like a warning bell that certain consumption patterns are associated with obesity and with inequality in consumption, says Christina Berg, professor of nutrition science at the University of Gothenburg, in Nyhetsmorgon.
It is researchers in Great Britain who have investigated the relationships between different food choices, income, occupations and obesity in a number of households based in London and the north of England.
The researchers used data on food purchases made digitally and self-reported data on how often study participants purchased food from restaurants via apps.
The researchers grouped the households based on income and type of occupation of the person who most often made the purchases. The occupations were divided into four groups according to a special scale based on whether they were civil servants or workers and how qualified their tasks were. Self-reported BMI of the person making the purchases was also collected. A total of 1,500 households were included in the analysis.
“Warning bell”
The conclusion of the study, as published in the journal BMJ Public Health, is that obesity was twice as common in households that frequently ordered meals for home delivery via apps than those that did not use such. It was also more common to order ready meals via apps in households with occupations of lower socio-economic status.
– It can be like a warning bell that certain consumption patterns are associated with obesity and with inequality in consumption. Inequality in food is linked to inequality in health, says Christina Berg, professor of nutrition at the University of Gothenburg, in Nyhetsmorgon.
The researchers behind the study also write that the apps can make it easier to make unhealthy food choices.
– It is clear that it is easy to order home food that may not be very useful when you are sitting at home on the TV sofa.