Looking at the impact of lockdown on eating habits

Lockdown had a mixed impact on the eating habits of children and young people. While many families found that they suddenly had more time to cook and eat together as a family, the constraints of lockdown also led to more snacking.

A survey from Bite Back 2030 and Guy's and St Thomas' Charity (2020) found that 60% of young people felt that eating as a family and cooking together had had a positive impact.

Four out of ten teens said they had snacked more in lockdown, with those from less advantaged families more likely to eat junk food and take-aways and less likely to eat fruit.

The findings came as restauranteur Henry Dimbleby's (2020) government-commissioned National Food Strategy was published to address ‘the turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for the end of the EU Exit tradition period on 31 December 2020’.

The report said the virus had highlighted with ‘terrible clarity the damage being done to our health by the modern food system’ and ‘the slow motion disaster of the British diet’, which was responsible for one in seven deaths in the UK even before the pandemic, and was almost as fatal as smoking.