Calories: Nine in 10 Households Consumed More During Lockdown

Nine in 10 households during the pandemic added more calories to their intake as additional takeaways and bigger supermarket shops became the norm.

Working from home, and the ease of access to food while remote working, has also been identified as a possible factor in this trend across Britain.

This sustained calorie increase peaked in May 2020 when people were, on average, taking in 15% above normal amounts as the first lockdown came to a close.

Sky News reported that intake of calories remained 10% above normal for the rest of the year.

Kate Smith, IFS associate director and an author of the research, said; “The huge changes in where people work, eat and socialise over the past year have led to a significant rise in calorie intake.

“Ninety percent of households increased their calorie intake, with the largest rises for the wealthiest households.”

Mark Franks, director of welfare at the Nuffield Foundation, told the Guardian that food inequality had become a systemic issue for the nation to address.

He said; “The rise in calorie consumption reinforces the need to address some of the systemic issues behind food inequality, such as the cost of a healthy diet relative to a less healthy one.”

The study analysed the data from millions of food and non-alcoholic purchases from shops, restaurants and takeaways.