Online grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic - perspectives of adolescents and young adults

ObjectiveTo assess perspectives of online grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic among youth, rural residents, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants. DesignOpen-ended text message survey data. Survey questions assessed rates of use and perspectives of online grocery shopping among youth and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative analysis of survey data from 875 participants (response rate=76.4%) to identify themes in experience with multivariable logistic regression to test associations between online grocery shopping (pickup, delivery, or either) with rurality and SNAP participation. SettingUnited States ParticipantsNationwide text-messaging poll of youth (14-24 years-old) recruited to meet benchmarks based on the American Community Survey. ResultsDuring the pandemic online grocery shopping was used frequently (46.7%). Safety and convenience were the primary reasons for preferring a shopping mode (in-person or online). Most online shoppers had positive experiences (59.4%), primarily due to convenience; negative experiences (28.3%) were from inaccuracies, inconveniences of the process, and delivery costs. Rural and suburban residence was associated with higher pickup (OR 2.02 and 1.51, respectively, p=.03) and lower delivery use (OR 0.33 and 0.72, respectively, p=.003) compared to urban residence. SNAP participation was not associated with any type of online grocery shopping. ConclusionsOnline grocery shopping is common among youth and their families regardless of rurality or SNAP participation, but there are several youth-identified areas for improvement. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=98 SRC="FIGDIR/small/22277101v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (28K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1deebb7org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@456b86org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19656a9org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@113a660_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG