A third of French people say they have gained weight (around 3.2 kg) during the confinement set up to deal with the coronavirus, but they have also "been less likely to drink, eat fatty, sweet and salty foods and even less likely to smoke ", According to an Odoxa poll published Monday.
Contrary to the idea of confinement having favored "bad practices" in health matters, this barometer established in partnership with Le Figaro and Franceinfo suggests an improvement, linked to the bracketing of social life. And a stable practice concerning sports activities (still practiced by 2 French people out of 3) even if they had to adapt by offering online courses in particular.
"Social dimension"
The proportion of French people who say they drink alcohol regularly or occasionally has dropped by 6 points in two months, from 57% of consumers before confinement to 51% after confinement. Same thing for those consuming fatty products (-3 points) or salty products (-5 points). Finally, regular and occasional smokers went from 27% to 23%, notes the survey assessing the impact of Covid-19 on health prevention in Europe.
“An explanatory factor common to all these improvements emerges: all these behaviors have a social dimension. We drink more, smoke more, eat more (crisps, coke, etc.) when we are in society ”, underline the promoters of the survey.
5 kg more for one in five French people
However, the period did not result in a reduction or a marked increase in cannabis use. Neither of potentially dangerous drugs like anxiolytics, even if the survey highlights that "the share of people taking it regularly increased from 4% to 6% with, potentially, an increase in the doses taken".
Negative point: for many sedentary people, confinement has left its mark: 35% of French people say they have gained weight, on average 3.2 kg, and one in five has even gained more than 5 kg. On the contrary, 19% have lost weight during this unprecedented period.
This survey was carried out by Odoxa and the FG2A by interviewing a sample of 1,000 French people before confinement and another after.