Comparing Diet Quality Between Online and In-Store Grocery Shoppers

Abstract

Online grocery shopping is a popular alternative to in-store grocery shopping. However, it is unclear whether grocery shopping modality is associated with diet quality. The objectives of this study were to compare diet quality and sociodemographic characteristics between online and in-store grocery shoppers and to examine whether the associations between grocery shopping modality and diet quality differed when stratified by specific sociodemographic characteristics. Data was collected from 872 Canadians with an online survey. Pearson’s chi-square and one-way ANOVA were used to compare sociodemographic characteristics and linear regression was used to compare the diet quality of online and in-store grocery shoppers. We found significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics, including educational attainment and age, but there were no significant differences in diet quality. Our findings suggest that the use of online grocery shopping is associated with specific sociodemographic characteristics; however, grocery shopping modality is not associated with diet quality.