Our response to Scottish Covid-19 inquiry

The independent Inquiry will establish the facts, identify the lessons that need to be learned and make recommendations to Scottish Ministers, so we are better prepared in future.

In our submission to the inquiry, we highlighted the findings from five publications we produced from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2021 on the impacts of the pandemic on population diet and weight outcomes. These five publications highlight that important aspects of population health and wellbeing have worsened since the start of the pandemic including poorer diets, lower levels of physical activity, and worse mental health.

Evidence indicates a link between obesity and Covid-19 severity and mortality, and our poor diet is driving increasing rates of overweight and obesity in the population. This poor diet is driven by an unhealthy food
environment where unhealthy HFSS products are heavily promoted and advertised, making it difficult to easily and affordably access fresh, healthy food, which is often more expensive and less
readily available.

The evidence we gathered from our reporting and polling activities indicated a number of important implications including:

• Evidence from our polling shows how quickly a modified environment can change behaviour.
  This offers important learning on the likely impact of policies to improve the food environment
  can have on population diets and associated health and weight outcomes
• Urgent and bold policy action is needed to improve the food environment to deliver a
  healthier, more resilient population
• Inequalities have been exacerbated and have widened during and since the pandemic, with
  varying impacts for different population groups. It is important to understand what these
  mean for dietary patterns and health outcomes going forward, and to recognise that a one
  size fits all approach may not be appropriate
• The impact of lockdowns and other pandemic control measures on wider public health
  issues such as diet, physical activity and mental health needs greater future consideration

The recovery from Covid-19 presents us with an important opportunity to reprioritise and rebuild a
healthy food system and social environment and to address the inequality that underlies so many
health issues in Scotland and the UK, including obesity prevalence. The Covid-19 pandemic has
changed how we value food as a society, and we need to grasp the opportunity surrounding this.

The inquiry is accepting submissions from the public, groups and organisations until 20th December 2023.