The pandemic, a blow to body acceptance

In all, 65% of Quebecers want to lose weight, 45% say they are anxious, stressed or unhappy because of their weight, and 37% say they are obsessed with controlling it, show the results of a Léger survey on behalf of ÉquiLibre unveiled Tuesday. Worrying data for this organization, as a return to social life begins for many.

Valerie Simard
The Press

For the organization that works to promote the development of a positive body image, there is no doubt: the pandemic has exacerbated body dissatisfaction and damaged our relationship with our body, our diet and our physical activity.

“The data show that a third of respondents said they were more concerned about their weight than before the pandemic,” notes Andrée-Ann Dufour Bouchard, nutritionist and project manager at ÉquiLibre. Conducted on the web last August, the survey reached 1,817 Quebecers aged 14 and over.

“It concerns us because we know that often when people are very concerned about their weight, they will tend to resort to methods to try to control it, methods that will be effective quickly, but usually not long-term, and which may carry risks to physical health and well-being,” she continues.

Since the pandemic, 18% of respondents said they binge eat more or comfort themselves with food, and 25% feel guilty for not eating better. The same feeling of guilt is observed in relation to physical activity, with 38% feeling guilty for not doing more.

“It’s tangible”

Clinical psychologist and founder of Bien avec mon corps, an organization that promotes a healthy body image among young people and those around them, Stéphanie Léonard notes the effect of the pandemic on self-acceptance. “It’s palpable, I mean, it’s exponential how we felt that the distress and the unease were present. The pandemic has really taken a toll on body image. »

Beyond the equation “less physical activity and more food equals weight gain”, which is to be avoided according to Andrée-Ann Dufour Bouchard because it is too “simplistic”, there is the increased use of videoconferencing and social networks, which could create or accentuate a feeling of dissatisfaction with his weight.

“We were so withdrawn into ourselves that we had far fewer ways to value or validate ourselves as a person,” adds Stéphanie Léonard, who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, behavioral food and body image. “We found ourselves brooding over our own insecurities. There are also industries that put a bit of pressure on us saying: it’s the pandemic, but you can do physical activity classes online, bake bread, cook. “A” pressure to perform his pandemic “, she says, which increased the feeling of guilt.

Benevolence and self-compassion

And now that social life is resuming and many workers will be called back to the office, how do you prepare to face the gaze of others? Last August, 19% of survey respondents feared the fact that their body would be more exposed to the gaze and comments of others when the confinement is over.

“It is also worrying to see that we have suffered so much from isolation, that we can finally go out, we are deconfined, but that the first thing people think of is not: “I going to see people I love so much”, it is: “Oh my God, I am going to be judged because my body has changed”, deplores Andrée-Ann Dufour Bouchard.

To tame this return, you have to show kindness and self-compassion, but also talk about it to normalize this feeling, advise the two specialists.

“If we have colleagues we are close enough to, we can share our apprehensions in advance, to feel that there is someone who supports us in this or who can help us if ever there is. has some comments, suggests M^me Dufour Bouchard. And I think, for employers, it would be a good idea to have a kind of “we don’t comment on people’s weight and appearance” kind of policy, because that has no place, nor when returning to work after deconfinement or ever. »

If possible, Stéphanie Léonard recommends going gradually, in order to relearn the fact of exposing our body envelope to the sight of others. “I’ve had a lot of people say to me, ‘I’m going to feel good about getting back into my social life when I’ve lost the weight I gained during the pandemic.’ Instead, I tell them: “Reintegrate your life and you will realize that the weight you have taken is not very important compared to what you are going to get in your connection with others and in the resumption of activities that were fun before.” But that, it must be said, it must be named. »