Pandemic increased unhealthy eating habits

Brits piled on 5lbs gorging on greasy food during lockdown.

Research shows that the amount of unhealthy food ordered rose by 11 per cent during the pandemic while vegetable consumption dropped by a fifth.

The analysis of supermarket and takeaway ordering concluded people turned to comfort food during the health crisis and experts are worried that this could continue into the future.

Professor Sumit Agarwal, from Singapore University, said: "We looked at real food orders and this reflected changes in habits.

"Unhealthy eating behaviour formed during the pandemic could result in undesirable long-term health consequences, such as coronary heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease."

Agarwal studied over 42,000 food orders of 11,000 customers and 462 takeaways in Singapore and predicted that similar results will be seen across the globe.

The findings are backed up by an NHS study that found people joining a weight-loss scheme are now 5lb heavier than before the pandemic.

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