Britons are eschewing restaurant and pub meals in favor of takeaways after a cultural shift during the pandemic, a report has found.
Adults consumed up to 74 percent more calories from takeaways as the lockdown left the country hooked on products like Deliveroo and JustEat.
And although this has fallen slightly since the reopening of catering establishments, the inflow is still 48 percent above pre-pandemic levels.
New analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows this increase has come at the expense of pubs, restaurants and coffee shops, where people are still eating out less than before the pandemic.
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Adults consumed up to 74 percent more calories from takeaways as the lockdown left the country hooked on products like Deliveroo and JustEats. And although this has fallen slightly since the reopening of catering establishments, the inflow is still 48 percent above pre-pandemic levels
Before the crisis, the average adult consumed around 270 calories per week through takeaways.
During the first Covid lockdown this amounted to 395 calories per week.
While the reopening of restaurants saw takeaway consumption fall in 2020, takeaway consumption began to rise again in 2021, this time to around 470 calories per week during England’s third national lockdown.
These higher levels have persisted, with takeaway food consumption reaching around 400 calories per week in the first quarter of 2022.
Household shopping baskets have also increased through the Covid pandemic and beyond.
Even outside strict lockdown periods, households bought around 170 more calories per adult per day in 2020 – a 9 percent increase on pre-pandemic levels.
Shopping cart health has not changed significantly over the period.
But despite fears at the time, these effects have proven largely temporary.
By 2022, the size of household shopping baskets had largely returned to normal, the analysis shows.
The IFS said overall calorie intake appears to have returned to normal, but the excess consumed during that period “could still have long-term effects on health and weight.”
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The proportion of Britons who are overweight or obese has grown slowly over time, reaching two-thirds in 2021, the latest available data shows. No data has been recorded for 2020, the year of the Covid pandemic
Report author Andrew McKendrick, research economist at the IFS, said: ‘The Covid pandemic caused huge changes in both the number of calories households bought and where they came from.
‘Lockdowns and closures of the hospitality industry have created a greater role for at-home food consumption and takeaways.
‘But by early 2022, most of these changes had been reversed: households had largely resumed purchasing as much as in 2019.
‘The pandemic has left a legacy, namely the sharply increased use of takeaways.’
Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: ‘This research confirms what is already clear: hot takeaways are taking over our high streets.
‘The pandemic has boosted this, and now unhealthy food is so available that it is almost unavoidable.
‘We know that the portion sizes in these places are on average much larger than you would make at home, with more sugar, salt and fat. Consumers can’t even make informed decisions about what they buy.
‘Boards must make the high streets healthier by using the planning tools at their disposal, and national government must play its part and enable them to do so.’