Impact of online delivery food consumption on the prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases: a cross-sectional study from China

Online food delivery (OFD) has widely replaced traditional diets and may induce nutritional imbalance and chronic diseases. This cross-sectional study enrolled 44,050 Chinese residents via stratified random sampling. Exposure was defined as self-reported OFD consumption frequency and duration, while outcomes covered self-diagnosed chronic diseases. Multinomial logistic regression was applied for statistical analysis. Results indicated that heavy OFD consumption (over six times weekly) increased the risks of multiple chronic diseases. Long-term frequent OFD intake notably elevated hypertension risk, with the relevant risk reaching 5.627 times that of low-frequency consumers (95% CI = 2.921–10.84). In conclusion, excessive OFD consumption is a critical risk factor for chronic diseases, offering implications for targeted public health interventions.