Women’s health and wellbeing has suffered more during lockdown

As the UK begins to unlock, research has revealed the toll three months of lockdown has taken on women. Female health and wellbeing appears to have suffered more than men’s across a range of measures.

Personal trainer app, Fitain, commissioned Kantar UK to research the impact lockdown has had on adult health and wellbeing. The study showed women were 28% more likely to have gained weight during their time at home (37% of women compared to 29% of men). The strain of lockdown has also affected sleep patterns. 41% more women than men suffered insomnia, as nearly a third (31%) of women and over a fifth (22%) of men said they struggled to sleep during lockdown.  Women were also 68% more likely to report feelings of tiredness due to lockdown (37% compared to 22% of men).

When it came to mental health, the differences were even more apparent - women were 50% more likely to say their mental health had suffered during lockdown (30% of women compared to only 20% of men) while men were 66% more likely to say their mental health had improved. (10% of men compared to only 6% of women). And 54% more women than men said they felt anxious as a result of lockdown (37% compared to 24% of men).

Fitain’s founder Lee Austin commented: “It certainly seems as though women have borne the brunt of the pandemic when it comes to their health and wellbeing, and suffered both mentally and physically from the additional strain the current situation has created.” 

Conversely, men fared better than women in a range of positive statements. For example, men were 31% more likely than women to say they felt rested as a result of lockdown (17% of men compared to only 13% of women) and 21% more men than women claimed they are now fitter since lockdown (14% of men compared to 11% of women).

Lee concluded: “While many women’s health and wellbeing seems to have declined in the past three months, it appears some men have actually felt their wellbeing has improved. It is interesting to see that some men appear to have taken lockdown as an opportunity to rest and recharge their batteries, while for many women it has been a stressful and worrying time.” 

Notes to editors:

• Omnibus survey of 1,205 UK adults aged 18-75 conducted by Kantar UK June 6th-7th 2020
• Fitain is a new free app which enables personal trainers and fitness experts to match with people seeking their services in their local region
• The Fitain app is now available to download for free on the App Store for Apple users and Google Play Store for android mobile.