Six health lessons we’ve learnt in lockdown

More family meals

With the cancellation of daily commutes and after-school clubs, gathering at the table became a daily occurrence.

And it wasn’t only parents who appreciated this. Researchers from Guy’s and St Thomas’s Charity and the Bite Back 2030 healthy eating charity, found 60 per cent of young people thought the increase in shared family meal times was good for health and wellbeing.

“As a family therapist, I know that during times of uncertainty, both children and adults need rituals, like shared mealtimes, more than ever to provide connection and meaning,” says psychologist Anne Fishel, author of Home for Dinner and founder of The Family Dinner Project.

Research also shows that children who eat with their parents are more optimistic, do better at school, and are more likely to get their five a day.

With only 58 per cent of UK families routinely sharing weekday meals pre-lockdown, how can we maintain this habit as other commitments creep back?

“Remember that if a shared breakfast or lunch works better, that is just as good as dinner,” says Fishel. “The benefits of mealtime, like better grades and nutrition, lower rates of substance abuse and depression, don’t spring from making a gourmet meal. The benefits come from the atmosphere at the table being warm and welcoming with kids and adults having a chance to talk and feel heard.” 

Switch to active ‘transport’

Another flicker of hope amidst the Covid gloom? Pollution dipped. Deer skipped across Italian beaches, dolphins swooped into Venice and people in the Punjab reported seeing the Himalayas for the first time in three decades.

Nitrous dioxide pollution plummeted by 20-60 per cent in cities, as a drastic drop in commuting and school runs caused traffic to grind to a halt. Pollution from fine particles (PM 2.5), often caused by cooking and agriculture, also fell by 10-20 per cent.

“Air pollution is the main environmental factor that causes respiratory disease and heart disease,” says Professor Alastair Lewis, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of York, who is currently Chair of the UK Government independent science advisory group on air pollution. “The health risks of pollution are broadly comparable to other risk factors like obesity, inactivity or deprivation.

“A reduction over the short term could bring some benefits, but the main health benefits would be seen with a sustained improvement in pollution, say over five years.”

And we can all do our bit by driving less. 

“The optimum way is to walk or cycle… it solves two problems by dealing with pollution and physical activity and weight loss,” says Prof Lewis. “If you have to commute long distances, electric vehicles are cleaner and public transport is better due to economies of scale, certainly try to avoid commuting in old vehicles with poor emission controls.”

Avoid driving at peak times where possible.

“Stopping and starting in traffic is terrible for pollution,” says Lewis. 

Bounce back with kindness

While the pandemic has been challenging, it’s also offered unearthed a deep well of empathy and resilience.

“There has definitely been a feeling of camaraderie,” says Lowri Dowthwaite, Lecturer in Psychological Interventions, University of Central Lancashire. “With people rallying together and the Thursday night clap. It’s different to a war effort, but it’s also similar with everyone fighting this one thing together.” 

This kind of community spirit response builds our ‘post-traumatic strength’. “Rather than going into fight or flight, where we attack each other and become aggressive, we confide in each other and console each other and we know that kind of sociability is hugely important for our mental wellbeing,” says Dowthwaite. 

In fact, a study of people from Hong Kong who lived through the SARS pandemic found that while people experienced trauma, most reported positive changes as a result of the crisis. 

So how can we maintain this?

Dowthwaite suggests taking the time to reflect on what we’ve learnt and what we want to do differently, whether that’s making more time for family or volunteering (charities like Bookmark are offering online volunteer opportunities, suitable for those who are shielding).

Lastly, don’t be afraid to go to hospital

The number of people seeking urgent treatment for heart attack has dropped by half in lockdown, according to research published in European Heart Journal Quality of Care & Clinical Outcomes. This sounds positive, if it wasn’t for the spike in deaths at home.

“There has been a lack of public reassurance that every effort has been made to provide clean hospital areas for non-Covid-19 patients,” says Professor Barbara Casadei, President of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). “Yet the risk of dying of a heart attack is much greater than that of dying of Covid-19. Cardiac death is largely preventable if patients with a heart attack come to hospital in time to get treatment. What we are witnessing is an unnecessary loss of life.”  

Cardiac patients aren’t the only ones missing out on life-saving urgent care. There are also worries about those with asthma and diabetes, who are failing to seek hospital treatment when they need it.

“There are clear lessons to learn from this,” says Professor Robert Storey, Professor of Cardiology, University of Sheffield. “An important one being that advice on staying at home should be nuanced so as not to discourage people with symptoms of heart attack or stroke from seeking help from the emergency services and attending hospital as necessary.”

In short, if you’re sick, don’t delay. Get treatment. 

Read more: What lockdown has done to our bodies – and how to fix it

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