Nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of China
Abstract Background Today, the popularization of mobile internet technology has enabled the public’s need for food convenience and diversity arising from modern fast-paced lifestyles to be met at a relatively low cost. The digital age of the restaurant industry has arrived. Online food delivery (OFD...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-11-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14593-9 |
| _version_ | 1811219381270609920 |
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| author | Xiaoting Dai Linhai Wu Wuyang Hu |
| author_facet | Xiaoting Dai Linhai Wu Wuyang Hu |
| author_sort | Xiaoting Dai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Today, the popularization of mobile internet technology has enabled the public’s need for food convenience and diversity arising from modern fast-paced lifestyles to be met at a relatively low cost. The digital age of the restaurant industry has arrived. Online food delivery (OFD) is rapidly developing globally. However, the public’s awareness of the nutritional quality of food through OFD and their knowledge of dietary nutrition remain to be investigated. Methods In the context of China, this study attempts to evaluate the nutritional quality of best-selling OFD set meals (i.e., meal combos) based on the current official Chinese dietary guidelines 2022. It accomplishes this by collecting data on popular OFD restaurants among consumers in 115 Chinese universities from the restaurants’ delivery addresses. Moreover, 20,430 valid questionnaires were collected online from undergraduates, graduate students, and other young groups aged 18–30 throughout China for descriptive analysis to investigate consumers’ perceptions of the nutritional quality of food through OFD and its health impact. Results The results of the nutritional quality evaluation of the OFD set meals ranged widely from 15 to 85, with a mean of 36.57 out of a possible maximum score of 100; and 89.56% scored less than 50. The nutritional quality of OFD foods was thus generally low. The nutritional quality of foods was negatively correlated with their popularity among consumers. Conclusions Young OFD consumers generally paid low attention to dietary nutrition knowledge and seldom paid attention to nutritional quality when choosing OFD foods while the nutritional quality of OFD foods was generally low. Respondents subjectively reported that long-term consumption of OFD food caused weight gain, increased blood lipids, and gastrointestinal discomfort. They thought that the reason might be excessive oil, salt, and sugar in the food, while ignoring the balance between different types of food. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:26:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-878fd8ed3cda4a55b3bb55c236138076 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:26:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-878fd8ed3cda4a55b3bb55c2361380762022-12-22T03:42:12ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582022-11-0122111210.1186/s12889-022-14593-9Nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of ChinaXiaoting Dai0Linhai Wu1Wuyang Hu2School of Business, Jiangnan UniversitySchool of Business, Jiangnan UniversityDepartment of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State UniversityAbstract Background Today, the popularization of mobile internet technology has enabled the public’s need for food convenience and diversity arising from modern fast-paced lifestyles to be met at a relatively low cost. The digital age of the restaurant industry has arrived. Online food delivery (OFD) is rapidly developing globally. However, the public’s awareness of the nutritional quality of food through OFD and their knowledge of dietary nutrition remain to be investigated. Methods In the context of China, this study attempts to evaluate the nutritional quality of best-selling OFD set meals (i.e., meal combos) based on the current official Chinese dietary guidelines 2022. It accomplishes this by collecting data on popular OFD restaurants among consumers in 115 Chinese universities from the restaurants’ delivery addresses. Moreover, 20,430 valid questionnaires were collected online from undergraduates, graduate students, and other young groups aged 18–30 throughout China for descriptive analysis to investigate consumers’ perceptions of the nutritional quality of food through OFD and its health impact. Results The results of the nutritional quality evaluation of the OFD set meals ranged widely from 15 to 85, with a mean of 36.57 out of a possible maximum score of 100; and 89.56% scored less than 50. The nutritional quality of OFD foods was thus generally low. The nutritional quality of foods was negatively correlated with their popularity among consumers. Conclusions Young OFD consumers generally paid low attention to dietary nutrition knowledge and seldom paid attention to nutritional quality when choosing OFD foods while the nutritional quality of OFD foods was generally low. Respondents subjectively reported that long-term consumption of OFD food caused weight gain, increased blood lipids, and gastrointestinal discomfort. They thought that the reason might be excessive oil, salt, and sugar in the food, while ignoring the balance between different types of food.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14593-9Dietary healthFood environmentHealth perceptionNutritional qualityOnline food delivery |
| spellingShingle | Xiaoting Dai Linhai Wu Wuyang Hu Nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of China BMC Public Health Dietary health Food environment Health perception Nutritional quality Online food delivery |
| title | Nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of China |
| title_full | Nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of China |
| title_fullStr | Nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of China |
| title_short | Nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of China |
| title_sort | nutritional quality and consumer health perception of online delivery food in the context of china |
| topic | Dietary health Food environment Health perception Nutritional quality Online food delivery |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14593-9 |
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