The COVID-19 pandemic has changed lifestyles completely. A study conducted by GOQii with over 10,000 respondents, indicated that while Indians have erratic sleep habits they are eating healthy and working out to stay fit.
During the first 21 days of the lockdown, the average sleep hours of India increased while in the following months of April, May, and June, it dropped. The survey revealed that 44 per cent of respondents went to sleep later than usual while 10 per cent went to sleep more than two hours later. In terms of waking up, 41 per cent woke up later than usual while 16 per cent woke up more than two hours later.
Before the lockdown, 47 to 48 per cent of the people used to sleep post-midnight. When the lockdown started on March 22 onwards across India, the time of sleep shifted to a later hour. Fifty-five per cent of the people were sleeping post-midnight during March. In April, 56 per cent, in May, 54 percent and in June, 51 per cent of people revealed that their time of sleep shifted to post-midnight.
A similar shift is seen in the wake-up time as well which is shifted to a later hour. Before the lockdown in January, February and the beginning of March, 26 to 27 per cent woke up post 8 a.m., but post March 22, more than 33 per cent woke up post 8 a.m. This increased in April, where 35 per cent woke up post 8 a.m.
On being asked ‘How did you stay active before the lockdown?’, 51 per cent of the respondents said that they stayed active by walking or running. This was followed by exercise at home at 20 per cent and going to the gym at 12 per cent. While, 11 per cent said that they were not active before the lockdown.
Forty-seven per cent of the people were doing exercises at home to stay active. Surprisingly, 31 per cent still continued with walking or running, most likely in their homes or buildings as an alternative to public parks. The number of people not being able to work out increased from 11 per cent before lockdown to 15 per cent during the complete lockdown.
Now in the Unlock phase in most areas across the country, activity patterns are slowly returning back to normal, although with a few changes.
Forty-six per cent of the people are back to walking or running again. As gyms or fitness centres are largely still not operational, 32 per cent have shifted to home exercises. Six percent are also using stairs as a novel way of exercise. The number of people who are not able to workout has returned to 11 per cent, matching the pre-lockdown percentage.
Eating at home has become the norm in the lockdown. As compared to 32.1 per cent before the lockdown, currently, only about 11.3 per cent of the respondents order food from outside more than once a week. 70 per cent of the survey respondents said that they are currently sticking to home-cooked meals only. Since the country-wide lockdown started, eating out has become a thing of the past. Even currently, stepping out for a meal is still not an option for most people. And although more and more restaurants are availing the takeout option, the New Normal survey conducted by GOQii indicates that a majority of people still have apprehensions about outside food.
When asked ‘How healthy do you think your current meals are?’, 53 per cent of the respondents said that they are healthy, while 13 per cent said that they are extremely healthy. A majority of the people feel that their current diet is healthy consisting mainly of homemade meals instead of outside food. Still, 30 per cent of the respondents said that their current meals are only somewhat healthy and not always, along with the four per cent who said that their current diet is extremely unhealthy. Although a majority of the respondents feel that their current diet, mainly consisting of home-cooked meals, is healthy, the remaining 34 per cent feel that their diet is mostly unhealthy.
Answering to ‘How often have you been bothered by poor appetite or overeating over the past few weeks?’, 29 per cent of the respondents said that they faced these issues on at least a few days, while 6 per cent said that they faced them nearly every day. Without any underlying physiology issues, poor appetite and overeating can be symptoms of high stress levels. Now even though 58 per cent of the respondents said that they didn’t face these issues, the 42 per cent who do face them at varying degrees, are a cause for concern. (IANS)