Comparison of Dietary Intake in UK Adults Aged 50 to 75 Years During the 2020 UK Covid-19 Lockdown Compared to their 2019 Intakes

E R Tuttiett; B M Corfe; E A Williams

doi:10.14283/jarlife.2021.9

Comparison of Dietary Intake in UK Adults Aged 50 to 75 Years During the 2020 UK Covid-19 Lockdown Compared to their 2019 Intakes

JAR Life. 2021 Sep 23:10:50-53. doi: 10.14283/jarlife.2021.9. eCollection 2021.

Authors

E R Tuttiett¹, B M Corfe², E A Williams¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oncology and Metabolism, The Medical School, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2RX, England.
² Human Nutrition Research Centre, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE2 4HH, UK.

Abstract

The lockdown restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19 impacted on many areas of daily life including dietary behaviours. A cohort of middle-older age adults (n=17), who had previously provided 3-day food diaries in May 2019 were asked to record their 3 day dietary intake in May 2020 when the UK was under lockdown restrictions. Mean (SD) energy intakes were significantly higher by ~750kilojoules in 2020 (8587kJ (1466.9)) compared to 2019 (7837 kJ (1388.9)). This energy increase is equivalent to ~170kcal; approximately 2 slices of bread. Furthermore, recorded meat/meat products, riboflavin, vitamin B6/B12 and iron intakes were all greater in 2020. No other dietary differences were observed between the two timepoints. This was a small, homogenous but well controlled sample, who exhibited a relatively stable diet during lockdown compared with pre-pandemic intakes 12 months earlier. It can be concluded that there was little evidence of food insecurity in this cohort.

Keywords: COVID-19; diet; food groups; lockdown.