Families in lockdown: ABS survey reveals changing habits in coronavirus lock-in

But people have also used the period of confinement to get busy around the house, cooking and baking, fixing up gardens and undertaking renovations, and many have used the opportunity to go for walks, runs, bike rides and other physical activities.

Like many households, Emma Hockey and her family have found positives in the changes to routine caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

While admitting to snacking more than usual, Ms Hockey said working from home with her husband Adam while their two sons Dylan, 8, and Henry, 11, have been learning remotely had enabled the family to welcome a new member in their puppy, Franki, and encouraged regular walks to replace weekly taekwondo lessons.

"Every lunchtime our lunch break is taking a walk down by Ginninderra Creek. If it's warm the kids take their shoes and socks off and have a play in the water," she said. "It's just been great, it forces us to get outside to get fresh air and sunshine twice a day."

More time at home has meant more family dinners, Ms Hockey said.

"Because we don't have those simple packed lunches ... we're now having every meal at home. We do seem to be going through more food and noticeably more dishes."

Rules around screen time are in place, Ms Hockey said, but her kids are socialising more virtually through video calls and games like Minecraft.

In its latest snapshot of home life during the pandemic the Australian Bureau of Statistics has found that, like the Hockey family, people have quickly adapted to radical changes in lifestyle.

Almost 60 per cent of the 1022 households surveyed between April 29 and May 4 reported spending more time in front of the television or computer or on the phone, and 22 per cent said they were eating more chips, lollies, biscuits and other snacks.

But, despite the confinement, there was a 29 per cent fall in the number ordering take away or home delivered meals.

Instead, 38 per cent said they were cooking and baking more, particularly women (up 48 per cent). Consistent with this, 13 per cent said they were eating more fruit and vegetables.

Taking the experience as an opportunity to improve their health, 25 per cent reported they were exercising more, while 20 per cent said their physical activity was down.

There have been concerns that people would turn to booze while being largely confined to home, and 14 per cent said they were drinking more. But, against this, 10 per cent reckoned their alcohol consumption had gone down.

People haven't just been hiding under the doona watching Netflix, either.

Forty-one per cent said they were doing more housework, or were fixing up the garden or taking on a DIY project.

And 39 per cent said they spent more time reading, playing board games and puzzles or doing arts and crafts.

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Though many have lost their jobs during the crisis, the survey shows a significant proportion of households have had to juggle an intensified home life with the demands of work.

Almost half (46 per cent) said they were working from home, and the vast majority (89 per cent) of those who weren't said it was because of the nature of their job.

The upheaval in lifestyles has taken a toll.

More than a quarter of women and 16 per cent of men reported feeling lonely, almost one in five said they were struggling to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a fifth of all households experienced stress related to employment, housing or finances.

Highlighting the budget pressure on many, 13 per cent of households with a mortgage reported difficulty making repayments.

But panic buying, at least, seems to have eased. The proportion of families buying additional groceries has halved since March, and just 8 per cent said they were stocking up on medical supplies, compared with a third a month earlier.

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