Food during confinement: between weight gain, arguments and “homemade”

Confinement has upset our morals and, among them, our eating habits. An Ifop survey reveals how the camera has changed our food balances and its consequences on the balance. This one, commissioned by DarwinNutritionan information and advice site dedicated to healthy eating, is the first to measure, on the basis of a large sample with 3,000 participants, the repercussions of confinement on the diet of French people and the sharing of tasks. relating to the culinary activity between men and women.

After May 11, a better balanced diet

The confinement resulted in weight gain for a majority of French people in different ways depending on gender. This concerns 57% of respondents, with an average gain of 2.5 kilos since March 17. Faced with these extra pounds, it is mainly men who are concerned (58%) and less women (41%). In addition, men gained an additional 2.7 kilos compared to 2.3 kilos for women. This particularly concerns large families (64% of French people confined with more than 4 people have gained weight) compared to only 53% of those confined alone. The reaction to this weight gain is not the same depending on gender. French women are much more likely (61%) than their male counterparts (47%) to be unhappy with their weight. Note that 29% of French people lost weight and 14% saw their weight unchanged.

To fight against this weight gain, the majority of French people claim to want to change their eating habits after May 11. More than one in two (56%) say they plan to eat in a healthier and more balanced way when deconfinement takes place, knowing that this proportion rises to 61% among people who have gained weight during confinement. Women are more likely to make this change (60% versus 51% of men). To lose weight, the French therefore consider a better balanced diet rather than following a strict diet which only concerns 18% of them.

Regarding the design of meals, confinement has led to more “homemade” and an increase in the time spent in the kitchen. Thus, 42% of them devote more time than before to preparing meals, and 29% make more homemade foods, such as bread and yogurts, while home deliveries have fallen by 21%. Local products are also popular, since 35% of respondents say they attach more importance to the local character of their food since March 17. Habits that the French want to keep past May 11, 29% of them say that they will give more importance to the repercussions of their food on the environment after deconfinement.

The meal, a source of dispute and inequality

Meals continue to be a source of tension within couples, in terms of preparation more than the question of food balance. More than a third of couples have already had a meal-related argument, a figure that rises to 45% among young people and drops to 27% among seniors. Food preparation time tops the list of issues of tension within couples (42%), particularly in the younger generations, 53% among people under 35 in a relationship versus 31% among seniors.

Lockdown has failed to restore the gender balance in meal preparation. Thus, 71% of women consider that this task falls to them most often, against 21% who consider that this distribution is equal between the two members of the couple and barely 8% that it is their spouse who does the most. The study notes that “behind closed doors encourages stronger protest against the uneven distribution generally observed in terms of cooking preparation time: 1 hour 12 minutes per day for women compared to 22 minutes for men (all days combined) according to the latest work schedule survey by INSEE in France (Nabli & Ricroch, 2012).”