Changes in food behaviours during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Australia

Aim: The objective of this study was to explore changes in Australian consumer food behaviours during COVID-19 public health restrictions (lockdown), to provide insights into how this unforeseen crisis event affected dietary behaviour patterns.

Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in September 2020 with a nationally representative sample of the Australian adult population. Participants were asked to complete questions about (1) meal planning and food purchasing and (2) barriers to cooking, before and during a national-wide COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020. A survey-adjusted logistic regression analysis was used to identify food behaviour changes resulting from the lockdown.

Results: A total of 4022 respondents completed the survey. Overall, food behaviour changes were found to be small and mostly positive. Eight of the 14 meal planning and purchasing related behaviours improved. This included more frequent meal planning and more time to be able to cook. However, not all changes were healthier, with more respondents reporting that they cooked meals at home using healthy ingredients less frequently during the lockdown.

Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that people are willing and able to make some positive changes when they have time but that more work needs to be done to ensure that the improvements in food literacy result in healthier meals. Further consideration also needs to be given to how we can embed and amplify these positive changes into everyday habits now that public health restrictions have lifted and Australia is in post-lockdown reality.