Changes in household food grocery shopping patterns in Melbourne, Australia during COVID-19 restrictions in 2020

Damian Maganja; Daisy H Coyle; Liping Huang; Simone Pettigrew; Maria Shahid

doi:10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100088

Changes in household food grocery shopping patterns in Melbourne, Australia during COVID-19 restrictions in 2020

Aust N Z J Public Health. 2023 Oct;47(5):100088. doi: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100088. Epub 2023 Sep 22.

Authors

Damian Maganja¹, Daisy H Coyle², Liping Huang³, Simone Pettigrew⁴, Maria Shahid⁵

Affiliations

¹ The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: dmaganja@georgeinstitute.org.au.
² The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: dcoyle@georgeinstitute.org.au.
³ The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: hliping@georgeinstitute.org.au.
⁴ The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: spettigrew@georgeinstitute.org.au.
⁵ The George Institute for Global Health, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: mshahid@georgeinstitute.org.uk.

PMID: 37742389
DOI: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100088

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions in Melbourne, 2020, on food grocery purchases.

Methods: Grocery purchase data for 2019 and 2020 were accessed for 1,413 Melbourne households (NielsenIQ Homescan Consumer Panel) and linked to a nutrition composition database (FoodSwitch).

Results: Per capita expenditure and dietary energy from groceries increased by 21.2% and 17.7%, respectively, during lockdowns, with marginally larger increases in expenditure and energy purchases from unhealthy products than healthy products (21.9% and 18.0% v 20.2% and 17.5%). The most socioeconomically disadvantaged households spent the least on but purchased the most energy from unhealthy products during lockdowns ($108 and 109MJ per capita per month), with the inverse found for the most advantaged households ($121 and 102MJ per capita per month). An increase in the overall proportion of total expenditure from unhealthy products during lockdowns was identified (+0.7%); however, there was no evidence of a difference in the proportion of energy purchased from unhealthy products. For most quintiles of household socioeconomic disadvantage/advantage, there were no statistically significant changes in the contribution of unhealthy products to total expenditure and energy purchases.

Conclusions: There was no substantial deterioration in the healthiness of grocery purchases during COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne. However, any additional purchases of unhealthy products are a concern. Further research on other sources of foods and drinks is also required to ascertain impacts on broader dietary patterns.

Implications for public health: The increase in energy purchased may have implications for overweight and obesity as a risk factor for COVID-19 and chronic diseases. Governments and retailers may need to consider measures to encourage improved diet quality during future crises.

Keywords: COVID-19; dietary patterns; food retail; grocery shopping.