Food Delivery and Dining Out May Be Harming Your Health

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Food Delivery and Dining Out May Be Harming Your Health

Last updated: Wednesday, May 20, 2020 | 4 min reading time

With the wide variety of food delivery services available, Singaporeans can conveniently order what we want with a few taps on our mobile phones. However, are these delivery services helping or hindering our health?

In our cash-rich, time-poor society, a large number of us frequently dine out or order our meals via food delivery services. A 2019 survey by food delivery service Deliveroo showed that close to 70% of consumers in Singapore order from food delivery apps at least once a month. Another 2018 study by Nielsen also showed that 1 in 4 Singaporeans dine out daily.

What's so bad about ordering food delivery and eating out?

What's so good about home-cooked meals?

Food delivery vs homecooked

Conversely, there are great benefits to having nutritious home-cooked food, such as:

Meal preparation: A practical, low-cost and healthy solution

Meal preparation, or meal prep, is a handy and fuss-free approach to enjoying healthy food every day. Setting aside some time on one day of the week to prepare meals for the rest of the week can be a worthy investment that saves us time and money. It also gives us better control over what we eat on a long-term basis. Due to its growing popularity, meal prep recipes are also conveniently and widely available on numerous websites and books.

Here are some meal prep ideas that beginners may find useful:

Some tips for healthier eating if food delivery or eating out is a must

Food deliver healthier tips

Invest in your health – Start small?

Taking good care of your health doesn't have to be expensive or cumbersome. You can start taking small steps today to improve your diet and lifestyle, such as increasing the frequency of your home-cooked meals and making sure to incorporate healthier ingredients if you do order takeout or food delivery. Investing in your health is a worthy effort that pays off in the long-term.

1 in 4 Singaporeans dine out everyday. (2018, August 21). Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://sbr.com.sg/food-beverage/news/1-in-4-singaporeans-dine-out-everyday

Campbell, D. (2018, September 26). Eating junk food raises risk of depression, says multi-country study. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/26/eating-junk-food-raises-risk-of-depression-says-multi-country-study

Lim, S. (2019, March 21). 70% of Singapore consumers order from food delivery apps at least once a month – and most are spending more money in recent years. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.sg/70-of-singapore-consumers-order-from-food-delivery-apps-at-least-once-a-month-and-most-are-spending-more-money-in-recent-years

Article tags

Food & nutrition