Scots parents were more likely to up their alcohol intake and eat junk food during the second national lockdown than those without children, a new study has found.
Researchers compared the habits of people in Scotland and Japan, where there was a more relaxed approach to Covid.
It found that tight restrictions in Scotland, announced in January 2021, led to people changing their health behaviours negatively, whilst in Japan, where the policy was to “request” that people stay at home and schools remained open, there were less likely to be changes.
However, the study authors said "interestingly" people in Japan were more likely to report low mood, which they said could be because they felt they were more at risk from the virus.
A total of 277 adults from both countries were asked about sleep, mood, exercise and diet in February 2021 by a team led by Dr Joanne Ingram from the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) and Dr Yuko Hijikata from the University of Tsukuba in Japan.
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In Scotland only, having children at home was associated with an increase in alcohol consumption.
Researchers said it was “particularly troubling” given the evidence that exposure to parental drinking can influence children’s future alcohol consumption.
Every participant who reported drinking a lot more was Scottish.
Almost a third of parents in Scotland (31%) with children said they had consumed more alcohol since the start of the pandemic but there was no significant association in Japan.
In both Scotland and Japan, having children at home was associated with a change to an unhealthier diet but of those reporting that their diet was a lot worse, the vast majority were Scottish.
There was a strong association between gender and diet, with males typically maintaining their diet and females reporting changes.
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Those who lived with children in Scotland were typically following a less-healthy diet to start with.
A second full-scale lockdown was enforced on January 5 2021 in Scotland, due to a sharp rise in cases, largely due to the spread of the alpha variant (B1.1.7).
In Japan, the policy was to “request” that people refrain from going out rather than mandate a lockdown and there were no penalties for violations.
Although the government encouraged working from home again, many people continued to work from their offices and schools remained open.
Despite having more older adults per capita than any other country, Japan faced few deaths from the beginning of the pandemic, with a 2.8% case fatality rate during the peak in April 2020, compared to 15% in Italy.
In both Scotland and Japan, a period of self-isolation was associated with an increase in alcohol consumption.
In Scotland only, a change to work circumstances was linked to both poorer sleep quality and less physical activity.
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Study participants in Japan were more likely to mention wearing masks and gargling with antiseptic, whereas participants in Scotland were more likely to avoid people and stay at home.
Dr Joanne Ingram, lecturer in the School of Education and Social Science at UWS, said: “Overall, we found that undergoing a period of self-isolation or experiencing a large change in circumstances - such as a change to work - because of the pandemic, was linked to changes towards more unhealthy behaviours.”
Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland said: “These findings show parents were at greater risk of increasing their drinking.
“To tackle our unhealthy relationship with alcohol the Scottish Government must increase the minimum unit price to at least 65p, introduce restrictions on the heavy promotion of alcohol and reduce how easily available it is in our communities.”
In an international comparison of mortality statistics among G7 countries, Japan had the longest average life expectancy, primarily due to remarkably low mortality rates from ischemic heart disease and cancer, thought to reflect the low prevalence of obesity.
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