Bad habits picked up during lockdown will impact the nation's health, a new survey has warned - but less than half plan to kick them when it lifts.

Research found more than 80 per cent of people have picked up an unhealthy habit during the pandemic, such as smoking or drinking more than two bottles of wine a week.

And just 35 per cent of Scots who took part in the survey plan to shake off their harmful habits after lockdown.

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The study said that a combination of the habits identified will, over time, lead to long-term implications for individual health.

The analysis does not bode well for Scotland, which already has the highest rates of obesity in Europe.

It also has some of the highest rates of heart disease, diabetes, alcohol consumption and smoking in Europe - all linked to an increased mortality risk from Covid-19.

The analysis which formed part of a UK-wide online poll of 2,000 people between April 24 and 27 found that one in three Scots have started to eat more unhealthily and snack more since lockdown.

Nearly one in seven people living in Scotland claims to have started drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week - around two bottles of wine - during lockdown.

Scots are most likely to have started smoking or vaping during lockdown, 16 per cent compared to nine per cent in the UK as a whole.

And 29 per cent of people living in Scotland claimed they had been exercising less than before lockdown began, while 39 per cent said they were now staying up later.

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Tam Fry, patron of the Child Growth Foundation and chairman of the National Obesity Forum, warned the results will mean the nation cannot shake its "sick man of Europe".

Mr Fry said: "Piling on the calories makes the effort of exercising less likely: the super-fit crowd offering online classes are catering more for those unable to go to the gym than the overweight who really need them.

“The war on fat will make a difference only in the years to come.

"Up until then, and even past that date, it is probable that Scotland will still be called 'the sick man of Europe'."

Professor Maureen Baker, chief medical officer of the self-care health app and website Your.MD, which commissioned the survey, said: "It is a real concern that a greater proportion of Scottish respondents to this survey report picking up 'bad health habits' during lockdown."

"It is a lot easier, for instance, to start or resume smoking than it is to stop.

“Smoking can have major long-term consequences, significantly increasing the risk of developing life-threatening conditions.

"This is a stressful time for everyone and it is particularly easy to fall back on snacking as so many people are having to stay at home.

"But we are also discovering that obesity is a risk factor for more severe illness with Covid-19, so eating patterns that lead to people gaining weight is really bad news, both in the short term with Covid-19 and for general health in the longer term."

Dr Jane Morris, consultant psychiatrist at the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said: "What we are seeing here is the very close interaction between mental and physical health and as psychiatrists, we routinely see how people resort to comfort eating or drinking as ways to self-medicate at times of stress.

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"Clinical guidelines advise depressed and anxious people to use exercise as a first line treatment but when lockdown - or juggling the demands of childcare and working from home - makes this difficult, we may turn to alcohol, nicotine or sugary foods.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "We fully understand that the current coronavirus restrictions, advising everyone to stay at home, will be difficult for people, especially when it comes to keeping physically active on a daily basis."