Researching the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our food habits

Researching the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our food habits

Graphic of customers in supermarket

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted both our physical and social environments and could also have affected our food habits. A food habit can be thought of as an automatic behaviour that is triggered by a specific situation; for example, who we are with or where we are.
A Rowett study that previously investigated sugar intake in volunteers was known as the HABIT study. The aim was to find ways to change behaviour in a positive way, and to break the habit of sugar consumption
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To investigate how COVID-19 has changed our relationship with food, the volunteers who had previously completed food diaries for the HABIT study, pre-COVID-19, were approached to complete an identical diary during lockdown. This way, each volunteer would be acting as their own control experiment. This research hopes to find out how social restrictions and pressure on the food supply chain have impacted nutritional intake.

Want to read more? Our full blog was originally posted here.

This research was conducted by Dr Dan Powell and Professor Julian Mercer

Research funded by the Scottish Government as part of the Strategic Research Programme