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Table 1 Percent (and N) distribution of health behaviours and changes during the pandemic by study

From: The UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and diet, physical activity, and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from eight longitudinal population surveys

 

MCS

NS

BCS70

NCDS

GS

USOC

ELSA

ALSPAC G0

ALSPAC G1

Age range of participants

18–20

29–31

50

62

27–66

17–66

52–66

44–66

27–29

N participants

1924

1493

3050

4195

2618

6051

2417

2071

1273

Diet

 Pre-pandemic: ≤ 2 portions of fruit and vegetables, % (n)

39 (657)

27.8 (384)

24.9 (673)

22.4 (853)

NA

26.5 (1070)

NA

NA

NA

 During pandemic: ≤ 2 portions of fruit and vegetables, % (n)

33.3 (564)

26.1 (393)

25.3 (676)

21.9 (808)

NA

29.3 (1271)

NA

NA

NA

 Eating fewer portions of fruit and vegetables, % (n)

17.1 (365)

15.2 (282)

14.9 (450)

10.9 (419)

NA

48.2 (2823)

NA

NA

NA

 Eating more portions of fruit and vegetables, % (n)

32 (651)

21.5 (344)

17.2 (528)

14.6 (655)

NA

42.2 (2596)

NA

NA

NA

Physical activity (PA)

 Pre-pandemic: ≤ 3 days a week of at least 30m exercise, % (n)

43.4 (885)

46.9 (704)

43.5 (1319)

41.5 (1744)

22.7 (594)

21.2 (1181)

NA

NA

NA

 During pandemic: ≤ 3 days a week of at least 30m exercise, % (n)

42.9 (803)

44.5 (677)

38.4 (1099)

39.9 (1588)

26.3 (608)

20.3 (994)

NA

NA

NA

 Less PA/fewer days of +30m exercise, % (n)

33.6 (622)

29.7 (445)

20.5 (624)

18.2 (787)

31.7 (804)

49.3 (2824)

36.0 (869)

33.5 (693)

38.5 (491)

 More PA/days of at least 30m exercise, % (n)

37.8 (750)

35.4 (544)

31.6 (1074)

26.8 (1232)

23.4 (658)

47.4 (3056)

23.3 (563)

44.4 (919)

42.5 (542)

Sleep

 Pre-pandemic: # hours/day,

mean [95% CI]

7.48

[7.38–7.58]

7.13

[7.04–7.21]

6.88

[6.82–6.95]

6.93

[6.87–6.99]

7.09

[7.04–7.13]

6.82

[6.77–6.88]

NA

NA

NA

 During pandemic: # hours/day,

mean [95% CI]

8.12

[7.99–8.25]

7.41

[7.29-7.54]

6.98

[6.90–7.06]

6.99

[6.92–7.07]

7.10

[7.05–7.15]

7.01

[6.95–7.07]

NA

NA

NA

 Pre-pandemic: <6 or 9+ h a night, % (n)

12.0 (223)

6.8 (107)

10.3 (229)

10.2 (323)

9.3 (243)

14.6 (740)

NA

NA

NA

 During pandemic: <6 or 9+ h a night, % (n)

29.9 (569)

15.9 (231)

17.1 (430)

16.3 (540)

13.5 (347)

12.2 (673)

NA

NA

NA

 From 6/9h a night to outside typical range, % (n)

24.6 (465)

12.0 (171)

9.6 (276)

7.8 (287)

9.0 (235)

5.4 (321)

NA

NA

NA

 From outside typical range to 6/9h a night, % (n)

6.6 (118)

2.8 (47)

2.7 (74)

1.5 (68)

5.9 (171)

7.6 (370)

NA

NA

NA

 Sleeps less than before, % (n)

23 (403)

22 (335)

19.6 (614)

16.7 (623)

21.4 (532)

30.8 (1903)

25.6 (618)

20.9 (432)

22.0 (280)

 Sleeps more than before, % (n)

54.1 (1093)

36.3 (543)

27.6 (879)

21.7 (937)

22.1 (599)

44.6 (2482)

10.3 (249)

21.2 (439)

36.3 (462)

  1. Additional file 1: Table 1 has details of each study’s sample design and weighting applied. Percentages and means are weighted (where weighting was applied), but N are unweighted. Analysis for GS, USOC, and ELSA restricted to participants aged 66 and younger. For more information about the questions asked in each dataset, please see Supplementary file 2