Contrary to what one would tend to believe, confinement has helped to reduce the “bad habits” of some French people, such as the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. This is revealed by an Odoxa poll conducted on March 12 and 13, then on May 13 and 14.
During confinement, social networks relayed many changes in everyone’s lifestyle. Between alcohol consumption related to “coronaperis”the lack of sport and the “comfort food”, one would tend to believe that excesses have become legion. However, a survey conducted by Odoxa for the FG2A, the Health Chair of Sciences Po, Le Figaro Santé and France Info suggests the opposite.
The survey, conducted among 1,000 French people on March 12 and 13, then 1,000 others on May 13 and 14, reveals that “bad habits” decreased during the lockdown. Thus, 79% of respondents ate fatty or sugary foods before, against 76% during (-3 points), while 48% of respondents ate highly salty foods before, against 43% during (-5 points).
57% of alcohol consumers before confinement compared to 51% during
Similarly, the number of alcohol consumers fell: they represented 57% of the population in mid-March against 51% during the eight weeks that followed (-6 points). The number of smokers has also decreased, going from 27% to 23% (-4 points). On the other hand, the use of cannabis has remained stable (it still concerns 5% of the population), as has the use of certain potentially dangerous drugs, such as anxiolytics and sleeping pills (12%).
Finally, sports practice was not too affected by confinement, since very regular physical exercise went from 65% before to 64% during (-2 points). Despite everything, 35% of French people gained weight between mid-March and mid-May, while 18% of respondents lost it (-17 points between these two data). More specifically, 34% of people who gained weight took 2 to 2.9 kilos, 36% 3 to 4.9 kilos and 19% 5 kilos and more.
“It is very likely that this cruel collective experience will lead to a ‘better life'”
On a European scale, the French are among the good students of confinement. If they are the ones to have ingested the most fatty or sugary food products, they come second – with Spain – behind Great Britain for alcohol consumption and third behind Spain, then l Germany and Italy tied for smoking.
“Even if, for some, this prognosis joins the wish, even the wishful thinking, it is all the same very likely that this cruel collective experience will lead to a ‘better life’ for the vast majority of French and Europeans.notes Gaël Sliman, the president of Odoxa. Naturally, this does not mean that the others, a very small minority, who have aggravated their faults during this period by smoking more, drinking more or eating more, will not cause some outbreak of associated pathologies in the months to come…”. According to him, the results of the survey can still encourage us to show ourselves“reasonably optimistic” in terms of the quality of collective health in the medium term.
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