Does Online Food Delivery Increase Unhealthy Food Acquisition? Evidence from Urban East Java, Indonesia Desi Ramadhani, Abdul Wahib Muhaimin, Fadli Mulyadi
Agriculture Socio-Economics Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Bio-Industry, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia. E-mail: desiramadhani[at]student.ub.ac.id
Agriculture Socio-Economics Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Bio-Industry, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia. E-mail: abd.wahib[at]ub.ac.id
Agriculture Socio-Economics Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Bio-Industry, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia. E-mail: fadli.mulyadi[at]ub.ac.id
Abstract
The rapid expansion of online food delivery is reshaping urban food environments, but evidence remains limited on its users and potential links to unhealthy food acquisition. This study examines factors associated with online food delivery use and its relationship with unhealthy food acquisition among 200 households in Malang and Kediri, Indonesia. A Probit model identified factors associated with online food delivery use, while fractional logistic regression examined its relationship with the share of household food acquisition value spent on sugar and sweet foods, prepared or ready-to-eat meals, and snacks. Results show that 49% of households used online food delivery. Each additional year of schooling increased the probability of use by 3.3 percentage points, while each additional household asset type increased it by 5.8 percentage points. Users had an 8.67 percentage-point higher unhealthy food acquisition share than non-users, with predicted shares of 21.73% and 13.07%, respectively, after adjustment for demographic, socioeconomic, digital-access, food-environment, and city characteristics. The association remained significant under a stricter definition of unhealthy food, with a 3.73 percentage-point difference. These findings highlight socioeconomic differences in use and support integrating digital food environments into urban nutrition policy.
