Kissing on the cheek, handshakes, hand hygiene...
IFOP survey of 15/10/2021 in partnership with Xlovecam
As seasonal infections such as colds, gastroenteritis and bronchiolitis have been making a comeback over the past month, compliance with barrier measures (e.g. wearing masks, greeting people without physical contact, hand hygiene, etc.) is once again becoming a public health issue, particularly for groups such as children who have not developed immunity to epidemics that were relatively rare last year. On the occasion of Global Handwashing Day (15 October), organised every year with the support of UNICEF, Ifop is publishing its Observatory of Hygiene among Europeans, which examines whether the good practices adopted during the first lockdown have become permanently embedded in French hygiene habits and how the French compare with their European neighbours in preventing hand-borne transmission, i.e. the transmission of germs via the hands.
Confirming the latest data from Santé Publique France collected in France (CoviPrev survey), this study, conducted among a representative sample of 5,039 adults living in Europe’s five largest countries (Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom), shows that the French, along with the British, are among the poorest performers when it comes to complying with barrier measures. They have significantly relaxed their vigilance regarding handwashing and physical distancing practices such as handshakes and kissing on the cheek.
Despite a noticeable improvement compared with what Ifop observed before the health crisis, the French are currently the poorest performers in Europe* when it comes to following hand hygiene rules after using the toilet: only 76% systematically wash their hands after using the toilet, compared with 86% in Germany, 83% in Italy, 82% in the United Kingdom and 77% in Spain.
The improvement in “good practices” in this area across Europe’s five largest countries is significant (+19 points compared with 2014), but it is mainly due to the Latin countries catching up — Spain (+24 points, 85%), Italy (+29 points, 85%) and France (+22 points, 84%) — with countries further north, such as the United Kingdom (+11 points, 86%) and Germany (+11 points, 89%).
France is also the country with the lowest proportion of adults following the recommendations repeatedly promoted during the crisis regarding coughing or sneezing: barely half of French people (53%) systematically cover their cough with their arm (compared with a European average of 61%), and only one in four (27%) systematically washes their hands after blowing their nose (compared with a European average of 32%).
In other areas of daily life, compliance with hand hygiene recommendations is lower in northern countries (Germany, United Kingdom). The British are notably the poorest performers when it comes to washing their hands before eating (48%, compared with a European average of 60%), when returning home (51%, compared with an average of 62%), or after using public transport (50%, compared with an average of 62%).
Eighteen months after being banished from social habits, it is clear that the French did not wait for government authorisation to resume hugging and kissing on the cheek: 65% of French people do so with close friends or colleagues. Although this proportion remains below the level observed before the first lockdown (91%), it has almost doubled in six months (+26 points compared with March 2021).
Contrary to popular belief, “la bise” — kissing on the cheek — is not uniquely French, but a fairly common greeting ritual in Europe, particularly in Latin countries. This form of social interaction is much more widespread in Spain (66%), Italy (61%) and France (59%) than in more northern countries such as the United Kingdom (41%) and Germany (43%).
Eighteen months after handshakes were removed from social habits, the French have also reintroduced them into their greeting rituals: 59% regularly shake hands with people they know, three times as many as six months earlier (22% in March 2021). Although this remains below the level observed before the first lockdown (85%), it is clear that the health authorities’ recommendations in this area are no longer followed by a majority of French people.
As the beginning of the winter infection season (e.g. flu, bronchiolitis, gastroenteritis, etc.) reminds us just how important compliance with hand hygiene rules is for public health, it is clear that the French do not stand out for their awareness of transmission risks, particularly those associated with contact with nasal or faecal secretions.
Despite an improvement compared with the situation before the Covid-19 crisis, the French remain among the poorest performers in Europe* when it comes to complying with hand hygiene rules after using the toilet.
The survey shows that although the proportion of adults who “systematically” wash their hands after using the toilet has increased slightly in France compared with what Ifop measured a few weeks before the first lockdown (+5 points between January 2020 and September 2021), France remains the country where compliance with this basic hygiene rule is least widespread: 76%, compared with 86% in Germany, 83% in Italy, 82% in the United Kingdom and 77% in Spain.
Another indicator allowing longer-term trends to be observed (WIN/Gallup – 2014) shows that over the past seven years, there has been an overall improvement in “good practices” across the five largest Western European countries: 86% of residents say that washing their hands with soap is something they automatically do after using the toilet, compared with 67% in 2014.
However, this improvement appears to be mainly the result of Latin countries catching up — Spain (+24 points, 85%), Italy (+29 points, 86%) and France (+22 points, 84%) — with countries further north in Europe, such as the United Kingdom (+11 points, 86%) and Germany (+11 points, 89%).
While France occupied an intermediate position in 2014 between the “good performers” (Germany, United Kingdom) and “poor performers” (Spain, Italy), France now appears at the bottom of the ranking for all hygiene indicators relating to risks associated with faecal or nasal secretions.
France is also the country with the lowest proportion of adults complying with the recommendations repeatedly promoted during the crisis regarding coughing or sneezing: barely half of French people (53%) systematically cover their cough with their arm (compared with a European average of 61%), and only one in four (27%) systematically washes their hands after blowing their nose (compared with a European average of 32%).
Compliance with these recommendations has fallen significantly compared with the levels measured during the first lockdown: -29 points between March 2020 and September 2021 for washing hands after blowing one’s nose, -16 points for systematically covering a cough with one’s arm, and -14 points for sneezing into disposable tissues (49%).
In other areas of daily life, compliance with hand hygiene recommendations is generally lower in northern countries (Germany, United Kingdom) than in southern countries (Spain, Italy), with the British appearing to be Europe’s poorest performers when it comes to washing their hands before eating (48%, compared with a European average of 60%), when returning home (51%, compared with a European average of 62%), or after using public transport (50%, compared with a European average of 62%).
Only when it comes to washing hands before cooking do the British perform better than the Germans: 72% of people in Germany systematically wash their hands before cooking, compared with a European average of 76%.
Although the French do not always rank last when it comes to complying with barrier measures, adherence to these recommendations has clearly declined compared with the first lockdown.
Compared with the compliance rates measured during the first lockdown, significantly fewer French people now systematically wash their hands when returning home (55%, compared with 86% in March 2020), before eating (58%, compared with 81% in March 2020), or after using public transport (65% today, compared with 70% in March 2020).
However, in areas of daily life that have been less subject to public-health prevention messages, the trend appears relatively stable, judging by the proportion of people washing their hands before cooking (74%, +5 points compared with January 2020), before caring for a baby (72%, +4 points compared with January 2020), or after petting an animal (40%, +4 points compared with January 2020).
In light of these results, although COVID-19 highlighted the role of hand hygiene in combating hand-borne transmission (transmission of the virus through hand contact), current compliance rates show that the health crisis has not brought about a genuine revolution in French hygiene habits.
“That’s it, it’s over, you can kiss each other again”: “The day I say those words, I’ll be a happy Prime Minister,” Jean Castex said in a tweet on Tuesday 16 March. Yet, 18 months after these practices were removed from social habits, it is clear that the French, like their neighbours, did not wait for government authorisation before resuming hugs and kisses on the cheek.
According to the results of this survey, “la bise” has already regained a prominent place in French greeting rituals, both among family and friends: 65% of French people practise it with close friends or colleagues. Although this proportion remains below what was observed before the first lockdown (91%), it has almost doubled in six months (+26 points compared with March 2021). Similarly, kissing strangers on the cheek is less common (23%), but has also doubled compared with March 2021 (9%).
Contrary to popular belief, “la bise” is not uniquely French but a fairly common greeting ritual in Europe, particularly in Latin countries. While just over one in two Europeans (51%) regularly kisses family members on the cheek, this form of social interaction is much more widespread in Latin countries such as Spain (66%), Italy (61%) and France (59%) than in more northern countries such as the United Kingdom (41%) and Germany (43%). The same north/south divide can be seen when it comes to kissing acquaintances on the cheek. While 30% of Europeans do so on average, the practice is twice as widespread in Spain (49%) as in Germany (19%) or Great Britain (25%).
In France as elsewhere, this return of “la bise” appears highly symptomatic of a certain indifference towards public-health prevention messages, probably because handwashing is no longer the only means of protection available to people, as it was during lockdown.
Eighteen months after being removed from social habits because of health restrictions, the French have also reintroduced handshakes into their greeting rituals: 59% regularly shake hands with people they know, three times as many as six months earlier (22% in March 2021). Although this greeting ritual remains less common than it was two weeks before the first lockdown (85%), it is clear that the health authorities’ recommendations in this area are no longer followed by a majority of French people.
Finally, it is also interesting to note that shaking hands with people close to them is a widespread practice among our neighbours, both in Mediterranean countries (44% in Spain, 37% in Italy) and in countries further north in Europe (35% in Germany, 30% in the United Kingdom).
Although the concept of “barrier measures”, which was unknown to the general public just a year and a half ago, appears to have become widely understood, compliance rates for handwashing have largely returned to levels similar to those observed before the crisis. In countries such as France, where poor hygiene habits seem deeply rooted in the population’s cultural “habitus”, continuing to emphasise that handwashing is essential for preventing the transmission of winter viral infections therefore remains a challenge for the authorities.
TO CITE THIS STUDY, THE FOLLOWING WORDING MUST BE USED AT A MINIMUM
“IFOP study for XLoveCam conducted via a self-administered online questionnaire from 7 to 8 July 2021 among 5,039 people aged 18 and over, comprising representative samples of the Italian, Spanish, French, German and British populations.”
*The survey was conducted among 5,039 people aged 18 and over, comprising a representative sample of the population of each of the following countries: Italy (1,007), Spain (1,008), France (1,009), Germany (1,011) and the United Kingdom (1,004).
The representativeness of the sample was ensured using the quota method (age and occupation of the respondent), following stratification by region. The data used to ensure the representativeness of the results were taken from the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS 2011).
The interviews were conducted using a self-administered online questionnaire from 21 to 27 September 2021.*