Spatial and socioeconomic disparities in the availability of healthy food via online food delivery services in Nanjing, China: An analysis based on absolute and relative measures

Abstract

As part of the urban food environment, online food delivery services (OFDS) have expanded the channels and options for residents to access food. While it may be seen as a way to improve food access, there is widespread debate over whether it can provide healthy food options for residents. Existing studies have primarily measured the absolute indicators of healthy food supply through OFDS, but have lacked comparative analyses of absolute and relative indicators. The spatial and socioeconomic disparities in the supply of healthy food through OFDS remain to be further explored. This study seeks to address this question through a case study of Nanjing. The findings indicate significant spatial differences in the characteristics of healthy food delivery availability when comparing relative and absolute metrics. For communities in central areas, both absolute healthy and unhealthy food delivery outlets form high-high clusters, but the relative proportion and diversity of healthy food outlets fall into low-low clusters. This contrasts with the spatial characteristics observed in peripheral communities, where both relative and absolute metrics of healthy food delivery availability show opposite patterns. Additionally, communities with lower housing prices, larger working populations, and higher proportions of young or older residents have relatively fewer opportunities to access healthy food delivery outlets. Our findings suggest that differentiated community-based strategies and platform-level interventions are essential to improve healthy food access and diversity via OFDS.