Lockdown measures have impacted our bodies and body image
With businesses such as gyms, hairdressers, beauty salons and barbers having been forced to close, our usual fitness and treatment routines have changed. We have been forced to adapt how we keep fit and look good, with many of us trying new fitness routines or opting for DIY haircuts and at home beauty treatments.
We wanted to know how lockdown has affected how you look after your body, including how you feel about it and how you look after it.
Change can of course be positive or negative but James D from the eOpinion community sums up his own less positive change very succinctly:
A bit too much comfort eating, and drinking, isn’t helping my waistline. Plus my step count has dropped off a cliff.
Lockdown has seemingly left a dent in our body confidence as, of those that said their bodies had changed, 53% felt it was worse now than before lockdown. Just 20% felt their body or their body image was better now than before the lockdown period began.
Two separate eOpinion community members have had differing experiences. One said:
I made a conscious decision to convert the time I am saving by not commuting into exercise time. I am actually feeling the best I have in ages.
but the other told us:
I desperately need a haircut….I look and feel terrible.
Going to a spin class, getting a beard trim or our nails done is starting to seem like a distant memory for most of us. One eOpinion community member told us:
Yes, my gym and barbers shut overnight. I don’t mind the wild look but miss the banter at the barbers.
Whilst this period has encouraged new lifestyles, as highlighted by this eOpinion community member:
This has made me realise I don’t need my monthly gym membership. I have discovered lots of ways to work out for free,
more than half of us will return to our pre-lockdown routines when the measures are lifted and businesses reopen.
We are ready to invest in our body and image again!
For many Brits, lockdown hasn’t just impacted finances and jobs but has also had an effect on body and body image. The lockdown period has left many itching to get back to their pre-lockdown habits, for body, and no doubt mind too.
The survey was conducted on eOpinion.org with 2,019 people on 27 and 28 May 2020 and is nationally representative.
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