Body positivity
“I know I’ve gained weight. But is that all you want to say to me after a year?”
Many figures have changed as a result of the pandemic, which does not necessarily mean that people are dissatisfied with it.
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Surveys show: Many people gained weight during the Corona period, while others lost weight. Our author believes that we should refrain from commenting on these missing or gained pounds.
The vaccination campaign in Germany is progressing rapidly and the corona rules are also having an effect: the number of infections is falling. Everyday life that we know from before the pandemic is slowly starting again. The retail trade opens, the contact restrictions are relaxed and in many places the gastronomy opens its doors.
But we have had a hard time behind us. In lockdown alone, we haven’t seen a lot of friends for a long time – and even when we saw them, it was mostly just a digital section of the upper body and head. In such a stressful time, the bodies of our fellow human beings may have changed. Kilos may have tumbled or added – whether out of frustration or stress. Especially when we haven’t seen people for a long time, these changes catch our eye. Nevertheless, we should rather not say anything about this at the first meeting.
Many people gained weight in the pandemic
More than a quarter of adults – around 27 percent – gained weight during the pandemic. This is the result of a representative survey conducted by the Forsa Institute in September 2020 among 1,000 people between the ages of 20 and 65. According to the Robert Koch Institute, the mean body weight after the first lockdown was one kilogram higher than in the comparable period a year before.
One thing is clear: the fact that more and more people are putting on weight is probably due to a combination of poor diet and lack of exercise. Many also tend to eat unhealthy foods out of frustration. “If I am no longer allowed to approach my friends and family, I want to compensate for that,” says nutritionist Professor Dr. Hans Hauner from the Technical University of Munich to the “Apotheken Umschau”.
The number of adolescents with eating disorders is increasing
At the same time, hospitals like the Nuremberg Clinic are currently feeling another consequence of the pandemic: They have been treating significantly more children and adolescents with eating disorders since the end of the first lockdown. Nuremberg’s chief physician Patrick Nonell reported to the German press agency: “There are about twice as many as usual. The anorexia stands out in particular.”
Increased stress in the family, less social contacts and the lack of fixed daily structures are risk factors that could promote eating disorders of all kinds, explains Nonell. The young people often tried to compensate for the loss of control in the pandemic by controlling their weight even more. “This gives them the feeling that at least that is in their own hands,” explains Nonell.
The first comment is about weight
Yes, it may be that we have increased or decreased a bit over the last few months of the pandemic. Especially when it comes to putting more pounds on the hips, the delicacies of loneliness and lack of exercise have not contributed to the “perfect” figure. But believe me: we know that we are curvier than a few months ago. We don’t have to be tied down to it.
In addition: Maybe we feel much more comfortable this way than before. Perhaps we are no longer trying to force 90-60-90 measurements, but are satisfied with the way it is.
Of course, too much curve on your hips can be unhealthy. Just as too little bacon can quickly become harmful. And yes, you can tell the person that. But does that have to be the first or second remark when you see each other for the first time in a year?
Not a big surprise
Just because you are seeing a person whose figure has changed over the past year for the first time, and the changes in their body seem surprising, doesn’t mean that it was a surprise to the person themselves. I guarantee: there is a high probability that the person has noticed this for a long time.
Maybe the old pants or tops didn’t fit anymore and, frustratingly, new clothes had to be bought one size bigger. Or the holes in the belt suddenly no longer suffice because the belly had become too thin. Weight changes usually happen in front of the person.
Unhealthy people
It’s true: Too much or too little body weight can be harmful to health. But friends: inside, acquaintances and family members who after a year of absence have nothing better to do than want to squeeze you into the socially perfect norm of a body are also unhealthy. Probably much more unhealthy than human body weight.
After all, it is not always about the physical health of the body, but also that of the psyche. For them, stupid comments or well-intentioned – but completely misplaced – advice for the figure are guaranteed not healthy.
Ultimately, it’s always about whether people feel good and comfortable. Whether the person is satisfied with a few pounds more or less than before the pandemic. And seriously: the pandemic is not over yet. I think there are more important problems right now than someone gaining a few pounds … don’t they?
swell: “Ärzteblatt” / “Deutsche Apotheker Zeitung” / “Apotheken Umschau” / DPA / Robert Koch Institute
This article originally appeared on stern.de.