A double-duty food systems stimulus package to build back better nutrition from COVID-19

Socioeconomic risks of food insecurity during the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK: findings from the Understanding Society Covid Survey

“…Growing levels of food insecurity pre-pandemic have been associated with eating cheaper and less healthy food [ 31 ]. There is a global evidence suggesting that there is an association between childhood food insecurity and obesity [ 32 , 33 ] and adult obesity and food insecurity [ 34 , 35 ].…”

How online food delivery platforms contributed to the resilience of the urban food system in China during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Previous studies from Greece ( Morres et al, 2021 ), the UK ( Robinson et al, 2020 ), and several other countries ( Ammar et al, 2020 ) have found that people increased the consumption of unhealthy foods such as snacks, foods high in refined carbohydrates, salt, sugar and saturated fats during home confinement ( NNEDPro, 2020 ). These changes in dietary behavior might be attributable to limited access to fresh food ( WHO, 2020 ; Osendarp et al, 2021 ), to increased impulse-driven eating due to the anxiety and boredom evoked by quarantine ( BDA, 2020 ), to having less time to plan healthy meals ( Hawkes and Squires, 2021 ), and to a reduced motivation to maintain healthy eating ( Gardner and Rebar, 2019 ). Poor nutrition combined with declining physical activity could lead to weight gain and thus negatively affect overall physical and mental health, and thus increased public health costs ( WHO, 2020 ).…”

“…Similarly, online food delivery platforms could also provide a ‘healthy diet’ label to restaurants that offer low-fat, low-salt, and low-sugar foods. In addition, food vouchers and subsidies, which were issued in many Chinese cities to encourage consumers to eat at restaurants after reopening, could be directly linked to restaurants and other food supplies that provide nutritious foods, thus providing consumers with incentives to eat healthier foods, and encouraging restaurants to increase their supply of such foods ( Hawkes and Squires, 2021 ; Carducci et al, 2021 ).…”

Did mental and emotional health of SNAP families' children improve during the COVID-19 pandemic?

“…For example, school and child-care center closures led to losing access to free and reduced-price meals and decreasing nutrient intake for many low-income children ( Van Lancker and Parolin, 2020 ; Pourmotabbed et al, 2020 ). The prevalence of food insecurity—often associated with an elevated risk of stress, mental illnesses (e.g., depression), behavioral problems, and overall health ( Pourmotabbed et al, 2020 ; Fang et al, 2021 ; Dunifon and Kowaleski-Jones, 2003 )—also increased at a higher rate among families with children compared with families without children ( Schanzenbach and Pitts, 2020 ; Ziliak, 2021 ; Gundersen et al, 2021 ; Hawkes and Squires, 2021 ; Zachary et al, 2020 ).…”