Mapping the digital food environment: a scoping review protocol

Abstract

IntroductionFood environments are the interface through which people interact with the broader food system. They are a key determinant of healthy and sustainable diets. The widespread use of digital technology in late modernity and the shift towards a digital society have posed new challenges for nutrition and health, with a concomitant surge in research on social media, digital health promotion interventions, and more recently, increasing interest in digital food marketing. While the literature is abundant on studies linking food, nutrition and digital technology, the effort to conceptualise and describe the digital food environment is new. This scoping review aims to support the development of a definition of the digital food environment and characterise it, along with key thematic research trends on this topic and potential consequences for nutrition and health.Methods and analysisThe planned scoping review will be supported by the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley and further developed by Levacet al. Development and reporting will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses—Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist and guidelines. The development of the search strategy was guided by the food environment conceptual framework developed by Turneret al. Four databases will be searched: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and Web of Science. Citation searching will be applied to identify additional studies, through checking of reference lists of primary studies and reviews. Studies in English, published from the year 2000 onwards, will be included. No geographical or population limits will be applied. Data will be extracted and analysed using a standardised charting tool.Ethics and disseminationNo ethical approval is required for this study. The results will be submitted to an international peer-reviewed journal and scientific conferences. They will be disseminated through digital science communication platforms, including academic social media, to amplify its reach and usefulness.

Digital food environment during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Brazil: an analysis of food advertising in an online food delivery platform

“…Online food delivery platforms also use intensive marketing strategies (8,10) , such as photos, discounts, free delivery and combos (a combination of food items and or drinks offered at a discount), mostly directed at unhealthy meals (8) . These strategies, especially those that confer some financial benefit to the consumer, can play a prominent role during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the greater socio-economic vulnerability of the consumer (11,12) .…”

Digital food environment of a Brazilian metropolis: food availability and marketing strategies used by delivery apps

“…With internet access eased greatly by mobile phones and changes in the lifestyles of urban populations, some features of the food environment have been digitalised. The digital food environment goes beyond social media, digital health promotion interventions and digital food marketing and covers food delivery apps as well (13) .…”

Socioeconomic inequalities in food outlet access through an online food delivery service in England: A cross-sectional descriptive analysis

“…It is not currently known if using an online food delivery service substitutes or supplements other ways of accessing food outlets and food prepared away-from-home. Having food outlet access across multiple modes of order within online and physical food environments could make the decision to purchase food prepared away-from-home easier and increase the frequency of this practice ( Granheim et al, 2020 ). The number of food outlets accessible online compared to the number of food outlets physically accessible within the neighbourhood was similarly high in the least and most deprived postcode districts in England.…”