About the study
The Food in Lockdown & Beyond study is running from October 2020 until the end of 2021. Over sixty parents have contributed to the research, living across our three case study areas; The London Borough of Brent, Bradford and Folkestone & Hythe.
Why is this study important?
Since March 2020, when the first UK lockdown measures were introduced, people have had to rapidly change the way they interact with food environments. Financial security has also decreased for many in the UK, putting pressure on family resources and budgeting and negatively impacting on mental health.
The food environment is important in ways that go beyond just eating- for example, it can also be a place to spend time with family, or provide affordable pleasures. This means that the closure of shops and restaurants is likely to have impacted family life in a broader sense. Failing to understand these changes may result in policy which is out of touch with the everyday experiences of families in the UK.
What does the study aim to achieve?
Understand changing food practices
Understand how the way families interact with food has changed and continues to change in the wake of Covid-19
Identify what is shaping these changes
Identify what aspects of Covid-19 and the response to it are shaping these changes
Inform future policy
Inform public health policies aiming to prevent or reduce childhood obesity to ensure that they reflect the everyday lived experiences of families in the UK
How will it achieve this?
We are engaging (remotely) with over 60 parents/carers from across our three areas; London Borough of Brent, Bradford and Folkestone & Hythe, using the following methods:
We want to understand changes over time, so will be collecting data longitudinally; first at the end of 2020, then six-months later in mid-2021 and another 6 months later at the end of 2021. We will be reporting on our findings throughout the year.
Interviews with participants will be taking place remotely; by telephone or on video conferencing platforms like zoom. We are also inviting participants to complete some creative activities to discuss in the interviews (read more about our use of creative methods). In the first round of data collection people did the following:
Written/oral diaries: Recording food shopping experiences.
Photography: Taking photos of anything that has changed about the way they acquire/prepare/share/eat/see food, and photos of things that make it easier or harder to eat the food they ideally want.
Spatial map drawing: Drawing maps of the places they’ve been over the week prior to speaking with us, and the routes they’ve taken to get there.
