Effects of a COVID-19 Lockdown on Sugary Drinks Consumption in England, 2020-2021

We examined the impact of a COVID-19 lockdown in England on the consumption occasions and on the amount of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) consumed. Beverage consumption is strongly associated with specific, often social, consumption situations (e.g., going out). We reasoned that the lockdown would affect consumption behaviour because it removed typical SSB consumption situations. Specifically, we hypothesised that SSB consumption occasions and amount would be reduced during lockdown compared to before and after lockdown, especially in typical SSB drinking situations. In two surveys (Dec. 2020 and May 2021) among the same participants (N = 211, N = 160; consuming SSBs at least once/week) we assessed the frequency of SSB and water consumption occasions before, during, and after the November/December 2020 lockdown, across typical SSB and water drinking situations. This presents a detailed picture of the situations where participants drink SSBs and water, and how this was affected by a lockdown. We also assessed the daily amount of SSBs and water consumed in each period, and perceived habitualness of drinking SSBs and water. As predicted, participants reported fewer occasions of drinking SSBs during lockdown compared to before and after, especially in typical SSB drinking situations. Unexpectedly, however, the daily amount of SSBs consumed increased during lockdown, compared to before and after, especially among participants with stronger perceived habitualness of SSB consumption. Exploratory analyses suggest that during lockdown, participants increased their SSB consump¬¬tion at home. Water consumption, on the other hand, was not systematically affected by the lockdown. These findings suggest even if some typical consumption situations disappear, consumption may be hard to disrupt if the behaviour is rewarding.