Weight-related insecurities and the latest weight-loss solutions from the French

A heat wave, vacation just around the corner, the beach in sight: every year, the pressure builds at the thought of having to face other people’s stares while wearing light clothing, whether on the street or at the beach. On social media, there’s a huge gap between #bodypositive accounts that celebrate love handles, cellulite, and “non-conforming” bodies, and the “summer body” craze, with its army of fitness influencers and their before-and-after photos. Caught in the middle, the French—and especially French women—are struggling.

In this battle between “body positivity” and the “summer body,” which one prevails? The acceptance of bodies proclaimed in rhetoric, or the demand for the perfect body? Does the body-positive movement—which challenges the standardized ideals that social media endlessly parades—truly have an impact on how French people—both men and women—view their bodies in an era dominated by the flood of “
” promoting perfect bodies on social media? And more broadly, how has the French people’s relationship with their weight changed over the past few decades? This survey aims to answer these questions.

Key Figures

I. In the age of social media, weight is a much greater source of concern than it was some fifty years ago

1. The French are much harsher in their judgment of their own figures than they were thirty years ago: 61% of French women now consider themselves too fat, compared to 41% in 2001 and 36% in 1997. Men also consider themselves much heavier (48%) than they did in 2001 (34%).
2. Today, French women’s dissatisfaction with their weight is nearly twice as high (63%) as it was about thirty years ago (37% in 1998). Dissatisfaction with one’s weight is, admittedly, less pronounced among men, but it is shared by one in two men (47%).
3. The stomach is by far the main source of body image concerns for French men and women. Losing weight around the stomach is thus three times more common today (76%) than it was about fifty years ago (28% in 1979), and this holds true for both men and women.

II. The start of summer vacation sparks a surge in motivation to lose weight among French men and women, particularly among women

1. Summer puts twice as many French people on “weight-loss alert” today (40%) as it did about fifty years ago (22% in 1979), while affecting women (47%) much more than men (33%).
2. The desire to lose weight before vacation is twice as strong today (38%) as it was in the late 1970s (23%), while remaining highly gendered: nearly one in two French women (46%) wants to lose weight before summer vacation, compared to three in ten men (30%).
3. And this desire to lose weight before summer vacation is not limited to overweight women: it is also shared by one-third of French women with a “normal” BMI (33%) and even 13% of women who are underweight.

III. Adopting a healthier diet remains the preferred weight-loss strategy, along with exercise

1. While most French people hoping to lose weight before summer plan first and foremost to simply eat healthier (85%), nearly half (47%) also plan to go on a strict diet, particularly women (50%, compared to 43% of men).
2. Nearly three-quarters of French people hoping to lose weight before summer plan to exercise, go to the gym, or do strength training (71%), particularly among the youngest, wealthiest, and most highly educated segments of the population.
3. Taking GLP-1-type medications is considered by 10% of French people looking to lose weight; among women, this option is gaining popularity among young people (14% of Gen Z) and those who regularly follow beauty content (21%) or fitness influencers (19%).

IV. Support for body positivity and addiction to “beauty/fitness” content on social media are far from being contradictory behaviors

1. Young people’s exposure to idealized body images on social media is massive: 66% of women under 35 view beauty content there, 62% follow fitness influencer accounts, and 51% look at images of “perfect” bodies they want to emulate.
2. Much more prevalent among women (67%) than among men (55%), this focus on weight goes hand in hand with regularly viewing “beauty” content or images of “perfect” bodies (88% among daily users, compared to 68% of non-users).
3. Support for the “body-positive” movement is mixed (52%), except among the youngest age group (74%). But this support is not at odds with heavy social media use: 81% of women who view beauty content daily share the values of body positivity, compared to 50% of women who never view such content.