Scots eating healthier meals at home during lockdown

People have eaten less junk food, the report found.

Lockdown has resulted in Scots eating healthier meals at home more often, according to a report from Food Standards Scotland.

The online survey tracked food purchasing and consumption in Scotland for three months from May to July 2020 – before the recent pub and restaurant easements introduced by the Scottish Government.

A third of people questioned in mid-July reported that, over the previous month, they had purchased food from a takeaway less often compared to the period before lockdown, either directly because of cooking more at home, being concerned about COVID-19 or the fact they were looking to save money.

In addition, 35 per cent of people said they either bought less or no processed food, but 37 per cent said they snacked more on products high in sugar, salt and fat in the last month.

FSS’s Chief Executive, Geoff Ogle, said: “Our COVID-19 Consumer Tracker shows food behaviour in relation to nutrition changed during the bulk of lockdown.

“The importance of improving our diet and obesity problem was placed in the spotlight during this time, with the emergence of evidence of a link to an increased risk from COVID-19. It’s great some of us ate healthier meals more, but the nibbles were also a temptation. Being indoors more often and potentially having more time on our hands has made it difficult to avoid unhealthy snacks, such as cakes, biscuits, confectionary and crisps."

He added: “When our meals are healthy it’s easy to forget around a fifth of the calories and fat we eat, and almost half the sugar comes from unhealthy snacks which offer very little nutritional value and should be enjoyed occasionally in small amounts.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director