Deliveroo and UberEats should put calories on menus to encourage healthier food ... trends now

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Fastfood delivery apps should display calorie-counts and healthy food options to help tackle obesity, new research suggests.

Displaying healthier foods more prominently and making small portions the default option on apps like Deliveroo, JustEat and UberEats slashed takeaway calories by up to 15 per cent.

Regularly used by 25million UK adults, experts said the small tweaks to online ordering could have a significant impact on obesity.

Dr Filippo Bianchi, from the Behavioural Insights Team - known as the ‘nudge unit’ - innovation agency Nesta and colleagues from the University of Oxford, carried out research involving 24,000 adults using a simulated delivery app and compared the results to a control app.

One trial, involving 6,000 people, put them into groups where they were given either a small portion, a small portion that was branded as ‘regular’ and ‘extra small’ portion size option.

The control group were able to order whatever they liked, with meals typically containing 1,411 calories, with those given smaller meals typically consuming 177 fewer – 12.5 per cent.

A second trial, involving more than 9,000 adults, used four interventions that repositioned foods and restaurants to make lower-calorie options more prominent on the app.

They found the app with healthier food options were listed at the top of menus and lower calorie restaurants at the top of the restaurant selection page, saw in a 15 per cent calorie reduction per order.

This cut typical calorie intake from 1,382 to 1,173, typically, according to the findings published at the European Congress on Obesity in Dublin.