Over recent months, it’s become impossible to ignore the analysis of whether our changing diet – due to food availability and lifestyle shifts – is impacting our weight.

More than 40% of adults in England have gained weight during the pandemic, a survey suggests, with the average gain being half a stone (just over 3kg). Public Health England (PHE), which surveyed 5,000 people, says Covid lockdowns and disrupted daily routines have made it challenging for people to eat healthy and keep fit.

After a year in isolation, many people who have developed an intimate understanding of what it means to socially isolate are afraid to return to their former lives despite being fully vaccinated. There is even a name for their experience: the clinical sounding “cave syndrome.”

Now, as we emerge out of lockdown, some of us have found that our friendship groups have shrunk to just a handful of people we’ve kept in regular contact with over the last 18 months. But how did this happen? And are we better for it?

Dr. Dunbar suggests that your social world consists of a series of layers and as they increase in size, they decrease in emotional closeness.

Abundant research suggests that supportive relationships can help relieve harmful stress, with physical and mental benefits that include resistance to viruses. However, the pandemic has caused stress and strain to every relationship.

Steps to Your Healthy Future started as a Birmingham-based charity in 2017. It was set up to promote and preserve the good health of people suffering or at risk from long-term health conditions such as type-2 diabetes and pre-diabetes, by the provision of support and education.

Fancy the opportunity to join an uplifting support group, that can help you positively manage your Health & Wellbeing concerns?

Don't forget that we now have a designated Type 1 diabetes focused online meet up group happening the 2nd Tuesday of every month.

After over a year of staying at home and following strict safety guidelines, many people are understandably reluctant to step out their front door and re-enter society. For some, they're downright terrified.

Thanks to remarkable new technologies and the widespread use of social media, we are more “connected” than ever before. Yet as a nation, we are also more lonely.