Amy Yau

• Research Associate at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Objective To assess associations between self-reported advertising exposure to foods high in fats, salt and sugar and household purchases of energy, nutrients and specific product categories. Design A cross-sectional design was used. Advertising exposure data were gathered using a questionnaire administered to the main shopper of each household, a...

Background Little is known about who uses online food delivery services and how use of these services is associated with social inequalities in food purchasing and diet-related health. This study explored associations between social position and use of online takeaway food and grocery delivery services, and its association with weight status. Meth...

Background Online grocery delivery services (OGDSs) are a popular way of acquiring food. However, it is unclear whether OGDS use is associated with the healthiness of purchases and whether there are sociodemographic differences in OGDS use. If so, the increased prevalence of OGDS use may have implications for population diet, and differential OGDS...

Background Emerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin present a critical threat to global population health. As accelerating globalisation makes epidemics and pandemics more difficult to contain, there is a need for effective preventive interventions that reduce the risk of zoonotic spillover events. Public policies can play a key role in prev...

Background Online grocery delivery services (OGDS) provided a way to reduce physical contact with others during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, OGDS may not have been equally available to all households and may have exacerbated health inequalities. Pre-pandemic, OGDS use was more prevalent among higher-income households and was associated with some...

Introduction The increasing incidence of pathogen transmission from animals to humans (zoonotic spillover events) has been attributed to behavioural practices and ecological and socioeconomic change. As these events sometimes involve pathogens with epidemic or pandemic potential, they pose a serious threat to population health. Public policies may...

Background Online grocery delivery services (OGDS) are becoming increasingly popular. The impact of OGDS on population diet and inequalities in food purchases is under-studied. This study examined how use of OGDS varies by sociodemographic characteristics and is associated with the amount and types of grocery purchased. Methods Food and drink purc...

BACKGROUND Online grocery delivery services (OGDSs) are a popular way of acquiring food. However, it is unclear whether OGDS use is associated with the healthiness of purchases and whether there are sociodemographic differences in OGDS use. If so, the increased prevalence of OGDS use may have implications for population diet, and differential OGDS...

Background Policies aimed at restricting the marketing of high fat, salt and sugar products have been proposed as one way of improving population diet and reducing obesity. In 2019, Transport for London implemented advertising restrictions on high fat, salt and sugar products. A controlled interrupted time-series analysis comparing London with a no...

Online supermarket platforms present an opportunity for encouraging healthier consumer purchases. A parallel, double‐blind randomised controlled trial tested whether promoting healthier products (e.g. lower fat and lower calorie) on the Sainsbury's online supermarket platform would increase purchases of those products. Participants were Nectar loya...

Background Restricting the advertisement of products with high fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) content has been recommended as a policy tool to improve diet and tackle obesity, but the impact on HFSS purchasing is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of HFSS advertising restrictions, implemented across the London (UK) transport network in F...

Introduction One in five UK children aged 10–11 years live with obesity. They are more likely to continue living with obesity into adulthood and to develop obesity-related chronic health conditions at a younger age. Regulating the marketing of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods and beverages has been highlighted as a promising approach to obesit...

Background Restricting advertising of products with high fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) content has been recommended as a tool to tackle obesity, but the impact on purchases is unknown. This study evaluates the impact of outdoor HFSS advertising restrictions, implemented across the London transport network in February, 2019, on HFSS purchases. Method...

Background Obesity disproportionately affects socially disadvantaged groups. Differential exposure to advertising of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods and drinks has been proposed as one factor which may explain these social inequalities. This study explores sociodemographic differences in exposure to HFSS advertising and whether exposure is as...

Background Food insecurity is a growing concern in the UK. Newspaper coverage can reflect and shape public and political views. We examined how frequently food insecurity was reported on in UK newspapers, how the problem and its drivers were described, and which solutions were proposed. Methods Using Factiva, we searched for news articles that wer...

Background Digital health interventions are increasingly being used as a supplement or replacement for face-to-face services as a part of predictive prevention. They may be offered to those who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease and need to improve their diet, increase physical activity, stop smoking, or reduce alcohol consumption. Despite...

Background Advertising of less healthy foods and drinks is hypothesised to be associated with obesity in adults and children. In February 2019, Transport for London implemented restrictions on advertisements for foods and beverages high in fat, salt or sugar across its network as part of a city-wide strategy to tackle childhood obesity. The policy...

Objectives To explore sociodemographic differences in exposure to advertising for foods and drinks high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) and whether exposure is associated with body mass index (BMI). Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting UK. Participants 1552 adults recruited to the Kantar Fast Moving Consumer Goods panel for London and the North...

COVID-19 has focused minds on the resilience of the urban food retail system in supplying adequate food to the whole population. In this commentary, we discuss the impacts on diet of four plausible changes to food retailing in the UK: relocalisation of the food retail system, accelerated uptake of digital grocery, restructuring of fast-food environ...

BACKGROUND Digital health interventions are increasingly being used as a supplement or replacement for face-to-face services as a part of predictive prevention. They may be offered to those who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease and need to improve their diet, increase physical activity, stop smoking, or reduce alcohol consumption. Despite...

COVID-19 has focused minds on the resilience of the urban food system in supplying adequate food to the whole population as the result of a massive external shock. In this commentary we sketch out four of the plausible changes to urban food retail systems that might occur as a result of the pandemic in the UK, and how this might affect population d...

Objective To estimate food insecurity (FI) prevalence among UK adults and investigate associations with socio-demographic characteristics, diet and health. Design Weighted cross-sectional survey data. FI was measured using the USDA Adult Food Security Survey Module. Data were analysed using adjusted logistic regression models. Setting United King...

Background/objectives: Socioeconomic inequalities in diet quality are consistently reported, but few studies have investigated whether and how such inequalities vary across ethnic groups. This study aimed to examine differences in diet quality and socioeconomic patterning of diet quality across ethnic groups. Subjects/methods: Cross-sectional da...

Background/objectives Little is known about time trends in diet quality and associated inequalities in the United Kingdom (UK). This study aimed to examine trends in adherence to four UK dietary recommendations, overall, and among sociodemographic subgroups, from 1986 to 2012. Subjects/methods We conducted a repeated cross-sectional analysis using...

Background Prevalence of adult food insecurity is estimated to be 8–10% in the UK, but the impact on population diet and health in unknown. We aimed to investigate the associations between food security and diet and health outcomes in adults in the UK. Methods We used cross-sectional UK data from the International Food Policy Study, which recruite...

Background Low fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption is associated with cardiovascular disease and some cancers. The UK recommendation is that adults should consume at least 400 g (5 × 80 g portions) of FV per day. However, the most recent available data indicate that over 80% of UK adults do not adhere to the ‘5-a-day’ recommendation. This study in...