Simple initiatives to help people select lower-calorie options when ordering takeaways in delivery apps could help tackle the obesity epidemic, suggest three randomized trials presented at the 2023 European Congress on Obesity. The research, which involved using a simulated food delivery app, found that interventions which positioned lower-calorie foods and restaurants more prominently, pre-selected smaller portions by default, and displayed calorie labels, all significantly reduced the total calorie content of takeaways by 2-15% compared to a control app.
The three randomized controlled trials including 23,783 adults (aged 18 or older who were users of food delivery apps) to evaluate 14 interventions promoting the selection of lower-calorie options against a control. In each trial, participants were asked to choose a meal for themselves like they would in real life. The primary outcome was the total number of calories in the basket at checkout. The results were adjusted for potentially confounding factors such as BMI, age, gender, and income. |
